Rinella's Turn
by BibiMao
Summary: What's a 14 year-old girl to do when a whole town is overrun by zombies? She only has her knowledge from being a bookworm but can that really help?
1. In The Library

**/Please enjoy. **

**- I do not own The Walking Dead at all.**

**- Words at the end of this chapter.**

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><p>"Read that one, that one, and just finished this one." A young teen was currently inside a library, scanning the tall shelves of books, contemplating what she should read next. She has on a pair of old dark gray jeans and an ocean blue tee. If it wasn't for her shoulder length black locks, her pale complexion would have some people fooled into thinking she was already dead;ghost perhaps? Finally having decided to give up on finding a new book, she drops her body down onto one of the many couches beside the shelf.<p>

The library wasn't big nor was it elegant. It was a dome shaped building with chipping brown paint holding onto the sides. The rugs were however, always soft and clean. Vacuumed and scrubbed is something that happens to all the rectangular/circle mats inside. Seems the librarian, Anna, isn't one for messiness but loves tidying up the mess children leave. Of course she isn't the only person cleaning; Marth, the only custodian that occupies the silent, unsightly "palace", is always by her side. Whether he actually cares enough to stay in this rundown place or even bothers to clean for that matter, is a mystery. Though one could guess it's probably just so he could get young blonde Anna's number.

"Maybe I should just go to the park." With a quiet sigh, she rests her hand on her folded arms. Slowly, she's drifting off to dream land without one care in the world but before everything around her becomes completely engulfed by darkness, there's a spine chilling scream. It wasn't like ones that she heard every so often such as when a rat scurried inside or when a dirty cat managed to bring a live one in its mouth.

The scream of the librarian was louder than ever before. Her head instantly shoots up at the realization that there was something very wrong happening. Leaping to her feet, she runs as fast as her legs could take her to the front desk, nearly tripping over the many scattered dictionaries on the ground. Once she had gotten close enough to see what was wrong, her body completely froze. The young blonde librarian was being torn apart by humans. One of the humans was Marth, the charming, brown haired, cleaner who now has blood dribbling down his chin.

Immediately the girl ran out of the library, leaping over chairs, and barging through the back exit. She began to think about all the stories she had read, where this same...Thing was described. The wind lightly whipping her cheeks and arms as she ran past the screaming children and parents. She barely dodges the bullets being targeted at her.

"I'm alive, why are they shooting at me?!" Her thoughts are running wild with questions, as she voices out the most relevant ones. Blocking out all the screams, blood, and moans, she continues on. Searching for what she believes to be her top priority, a weapon. As her eyes scan every inch of the street, she spots something shining. Hidden between the tall green grass, was something that would work just fine.

"Just a few more steps left." Reaching down to grasp the aluminum bat, she slowly-shakily, brings it back up to hold in front of her. Running past the screaming/moaning horde, she ignores the cries of help, jumping over the fence to escape the mess and guilt as a short cut. "They're dead. All dead. I can't do anything, I can't." Trying to reassure herself and justify her untaken actions, she takes deep breaths and squeezes the fence.

As she's about to let go of the gray rusty fence, having already gained her energy back, something cold runs past her fingers. Immediately prompting her to take a blind swing. Her eyes are clenched shut as she feels something wet splatter onto her face, causing her to land on the floor. Opening her eyes, she could only watch in complete horror as a sick person's fingers bend in an inhuman fashion before twisting and falling onto the ground. Not knowing what else to do, she back crawls as far as she could, scratching the nearly dried black to brown liquid, off her cheeks. The finger that had fallen off, is wiggling, still trying to grab her. She shakily stands back up, dashing across the plain green grass towards her home.

The bloody footsteps on the block pavement causes her to stumble onto her steps. If it wasn't for the nearby window curtains, she would've rolled down onto the ground and risk having a bump. The windows are completely bare now but she couldn't bring herself to look through the shiny glass. Gulping, she cautiously walks up the stairs, the piece of window curtain still in her hand. Scrubbing her face off with the amount of sweat as a makeshift replacement for water, she discards the cloth somewhere on the patio. With a wavering hand she slowly opens the door, afraid of what might meet her eyes. The door creaks eerily slow,even with just a crack of the it open, the disgusting stench is enough to have her struggling to swallow the vomit that had risen up.

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><p>Her own dad, the man that she known regrettably for her whole life, was currently munching on her mother who was trying very hard to push him off. Her mom having noticed the new body in the room, reaches her trembling white fingers towards her.<p>

Looking away from the unearthly sight, she bites her lip at the thought of what she was going to do. Walking towards the dining room table, placing the bat on the piece of wood, she picks up her dad's favorite gun. It was heavy, she needs to hold it with both of her shaky hands. At first she fumbles with it, for it was one of the heaviest things she's ever had to hold. Slowly however, she walks towards her parents. Her eyes for her father held no sadness, anger was completely written within her aquamarine eyes.

_No._

_Only pity. _

As she lifts the gun, pointing it at her dad's face, he stops feasting on her mother's right neck and shoulder. He growls at the girl who in-turn was ready for the demise of the still rotting flesh.

Her breathing hitches as she shoots the bullet right between his dead gray eyes. Blood splatters onto the tiled kitchen floor as his back lands with a resounding thud.

Rinella turns towards her mother, knowing what would happen next. That's why she didn't hesitant to position the gun at her forehead.

The mother's light blue eyes widen if only for a second, before her hand falls down to rest on her husband's back. With one last breath, she manages to give her daughter a calm smile. She was unable to talk, the hole in between her neck and shoulder having proved to be too damaged.

"Love you," She whispers. "Mom."

The sound of the gun bouncing off the walls met her ears at an alarming rate. The fear she saw in her eyes was the exact same look she gave her mom before she was dragged into a room. That one wasn't a smile.

_There was never supposed to be._

She looks down at her clothes, immediately spotting the black blood littered all over it. The M1873 Old West Cavalry revolver that was held in her right hand was shiny and clean. She switches her shirt for a light orange one and hastily straps her old brown backpack on.

She was ready to go with her still working white running shoes and her pale red sports sweater. Making sure that her locket was inside the pack along with her DS Lite, she lifts up the revolver and attaches it to her belt before fastening it onto her hip. The aluminum bat is clenched tightly in her right hand.

"Now time to look for survivors and avoid getting bitten. These things, I know what they are. The flesh eating, moans, and shots to the head all lead up to one thing .The people I once knew, the people who I had lived with, are now…Dead."

With those words being engulfed by the loud sound of the wind, she starts her trek along the lone empty road, away from her town and into the city with nothing but a revolver, backpack, and an aluminum bat by her side.

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><p><strong>[Edit 46/14]**

**I am back. Don't worry, as soon as I'm done cleaning up all these chapters, I will update at least once a week. Don't be mad, I just want to make this story even better. **

**I apologize for any mistakes and lack of character development. This is a story solely meant for stress relieving purposes. Therefore, I will leave this story for random periods of time and come back at random intervals.  
><strong>

**With that being said, I hope you enjoy this weird fanfic. **

**Sorry if it is not to your liking. **

**I'll try my best!**


	2. Something Interesting

**/This is the 2nd chapter of Rinella's Turn. I will try my best at improving.  
><strong>

**- I do not own anything aside from Rinella and bits/pieces of this story's plot. **

**-Last time I will say this. No need for repetition, eh?  
><strong>

**- Thank you, please enjoy reading. **

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><p>"Man, I'm so hungry and I haven't seen anyone yet. Not even a zombie." Rinella is currently walking down the same road that she first began her journey on. It's been a while since she last seen anyone or anything for that matter. Random items such as books, toys, and empty water bottles occupied the gloomy, sand-brown, dirt road on her left.<p>

Swinging her aluminum bat around, she brings it down to rest between her two shoulders;behind her neck. She wonders if a boy is okay, as well as his family. He was younger than her, by a year or two but that didn't prevent her from approaching him one day during school. No matter how bad some kids bullied her, she never gave them the time of day.

_That is a story for another time._

While her thoughts were in complete disarray, her forehead met the hard, clear surface of a glass door.

"What is it now?" She manages to spit the words out between small groans of obvious pain.

_No need to attract any more of them. Not at a time when she's so vulnerable. _

With her three middle fingers rubbing the soft bump on her forehead, right eye squeezed shut in pain, she raises her left hand to wipe off the amount of dust that has accumulated on the glass. The dirt however, decides to think for itself and pick where it chooses to go before resting atop the sleeve of her sweater. The once amaranth red, now looks like the color of a brick. Having taking notice of the dark spot, she pats it a few times before being satisfied with the results and returning her attention to the forgotten door.

"N'n, D and S. What letters go between the two?"**[1]** As she was contemplating the possible choices and weighing the options with imaginative letters on her right and left palms, she failed to notice the looming figure coming towards her in staggering slow steps.

The sudden 'thump' on the glass had reminded her of when the repair men would come to her house and fix the damaged floors,walls, and whatever else had to be fixed at the time. Shaking her head out of its stupor, her attention is soon upon the strange figure in front of her. Catching the black spot on the door, she noticed the five fingers and trailing her eyes up even higher, found that it was indeed a man.

"H-it", she stops herself, "Your face..." scanning the thing from top to bottom, she brings her hand down from her forehead to cover her nose and mouth, "You're not 'you' anymore. This is more than just a simple flu, or an indisposition."

The thing had the bottom half of it's mouth hanging off, a single piece of tearing skin, holding it in place. The jaw and teeth were visible, as well as the few strands of hair and meat, _flesh_, caught between it's teeth. It's left hand is still banging on the door, while it's right arm is by his feet. The apron that once said 'At Your Service' in fancy bright letters is now tainted with blood, guts, whatever else came with eating a human.

_Stop wasting time!_

Having remembered the current dilemma in front of her face, she reaches down for the bat that laid forgotten by her side. Just as the glass door shatters in a vast amount of tiny fragments, the bat is up by her face, ready to take the swing. Counting down to two in her head, she swings with as much force as she could at its head.

"Just in case." The hit did cause a dent but she did not want to risk it reanimating again and taking a bite out of her while she was distracted. With the thing laying on the ground, body and head completely separated, teeth gnawing towards her feet, she delivers what she hopes to be the final blow, making contact with the decomposing thing's face. Managing to dodge right on time, she barely misses the drops of blood.

Taking one last look at the beaten 'it', she notices that she did quite a number on it. The head looks downright mangled, not like a head as it once was but more like one of the dead cats you would see out on the road. Even the flies got to it, gathering around it like little kids and an ice cream man.

With the shake of her head, she walks into the shop. A sweet wave of aroma drifts past her nose and immediately her stomach growls as her response.

_Actions do speak louder than words at times._

The stench of rotting flesh still lingers inside but she tries her hardest to push it away from her thoughts and instead focuses on the sweet taste of whatever she is smelling; soon to be eating. Hopping over the slick surprisingly clean counter, she scans the area, searching for anymore of them. To her delight, the small bakery was completely deserted.

"Except for that." She mutters,tiredly. Her eyes found a man's body that was laid with his head against the glass, a chunk of his neck messing. Quickly deciding now to be there when he reanimates, she snatches two donuts; placing them into the pockets of her sweater and jolts off.

_Current objective - find more survivors before the sun sets._

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><p>It wasn't long before her feet had decided to give up on her and plan their long needed break by themselves. "I need," Rinella huffs after a few words, "rest."She finishes, utterly out of breath. Sure she was young and doesn't have much weight on her but that doesn't mean she's athletic. She's not an 'all-rounder' per se, she has the brains and is crafty, which she takes pride in but sports were never her strong suit.<p>

_Once again, that is a story for another time._

As soon as she sprinted off from the bakery, her plan to get as far away as possible from the place soon backfired, her legs were aching, her gun wasn't helping at all. The weight to be precise. Her head was pounding and the soft crunches of sticks beneath her sneakers reverberated within her mind. Though her mind was hazy, her eyes weren't.

Tons of cars are jumbled together with their individual doors hanging off their hinges. She isn't quite sure what previously occurred here, but nonetheless surveyed the area in case of those things being nearby, pulling a sneak attack and pouncing on her. The area was quiet, quiet enough for her to think and ponder what actions she should take next. Her legs give out sooner than she expects and she finds herself on her knees, behind one of the many rusted car doors. Tilting her head to rest on the tire of a truck, she heaves out a sigh. One she hadn't known she'd been holding and begins to think.

Her thoughts consisting of zombies and how the lives before them, _humans _-the word leaving a bitter taste on her tongue- are idiots for getting bitten. Can she really blame them though? It's not as if they asked to be bitten -That would make them even more stupider- oh how she hoped that wasn't the deal.

She fishes around her pocket for the second doughnut, the first having been in her mouth during the time she was running. However, she only gets the chance to look at the tasty pink doughnut,that contains sprinkles, before dropping it at the sound of groaning.

Letting out a small noise from her throat in surprise, she snatches the doughnut right before it falls to the ground. She doesn't take the time to observe it before shoving it into her mouth. Savoring the delectable treat, she forgets about the groans from before.

"!" A gun shot blares through the once quiet plane.

Whirling her head towards where the sound came from, she spots a small girl lying awfully still on the ground. Even though a rusty old car was blocking her line of vision, she could see through the bottom of it. She has seen those boots before, it is a faint memory but she remembers them. Oh right, she's seen them once every few weeks. No matter, as long as the person can't see her, it's fine.

"Lil' Rinnie?" A deep voice questions from above, uncertainty is clearly laced within it.

Ears twitching at the sound of that familiar nickname, she picks herself up from her spot on the floor. There was only one person who called her that yet, she did not want to get her hopes up. Deciding it was best to face the person now than risk facing disappointment later, she swallows the last bit of her treat. "You know, I prefer the name Rina but that doesn't sound half bad," a smile threatens to appear on her face so she stops herself, "coming from you that is." She mutters quietly.

"Rick The Sheriff or well, sheriff's deputy?"**[2]** She questions the unknown man. She knew how wrong the people were but that name just grew on her-even if it was wrong. Eyes closed, fists clenched by her sides, awaiting the big reveal. Just in case this wasn't him.

She hears footsteps and soon, they stop, right in front of her was the person. Slowly, she brings up her head, opening her right eye and then the left. Shifting her head so now both her eyes were locked on him, she catches the smile on his lips. Slowly but surely a smile is making its way onto hers as well.

"I thought you were gone," he approaches her, putting his hands around the back of her head and shoulders,"Along with everyone else that I once knew." Rick's voice has a fatherly tone to it, one that nearly brings tears to the young girl's eyes.

_It's been so long._

"Well I'm not gone and this is not your imagination." Her arms tighten around his waist, hands clenching his brown officer shirt. A few seconds later and the hug ends, little too soon for possibly the both of them.

They're both searching for someone. Whether or not they'll find them, the answer is unknown. One is searching for his family while the other is-

_Well, that's a story for another time._

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><p><span><strong>AN**

**[Edit 4/8/14]  
><strong>

**[1]**_ - _Could you guess what's written between 'D' and 'S'?

**[2] **- Capitals because that's what her town calls him. Doesn't mean it's right though, thanks for correcting me on that/

**I am updating all the chapters before I start updating again. Sorry but I would really appreciate it if my previous readers reread all the chapters. I believe the new edits are better than any of my previous ones. Next updates/edits will probably be next year when I work the nerve to read this all. **

**Work the nerve? Never mind.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for any mistakes. **

**Thank you for taking your time to read this piece. **

**Chapter Track - Toumei Answer [Piano outtake] **

**Covered by - Jubyphonic-P**

**Next chapter tracks will be in the beginning of the chapters. **

**Thank you.**


	3. Where Are We Going?

**/Please enjoy.  
><strong>

**- Thank you for taking your time to read the third chapter of Rinella's Turn.**

**- Words at the end of this chapter.**

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><p><em>Chapter Theme - Talk<em>

_Performed by - Coldplay_

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><p>A few seconds later we pull apart. That hug must have been what we were looking for.<p>

"Cop car," he points his thumb towards the black and white vehicle, "just ran out of gas."

My eyes lose the small shine they had when Rick first appeared. No gas means no transportation by vehicle which means, walking is the only choice left. "We'll just have to walk." Deciding not to fight the only option, I try my best to grin and bear it. Pulling my pack by the strap, I start tightening the loose belts so that when we have to run, nothing will fall off of me. _  
><em>

"So what were you doing before this all began?"

His question catches me off guard. So that's the first thing he asks? Holding my bat between my arms, I answer him.

"Actually, I was at the library, reading and whatnot. What about you?" He was probably helping the people in the city or something. Why else would he have his uniform on?

"Sleeping."He replies, clicking his tongue.

Nearly tripping by his peculiar answer, he places his hand atop my shoulder; successfully pulling me back and preventing my fall.

"Thanks." From the corner of I my eye I could see him smiling, almost as if he was stifling a laugh.

"I was in a coma for a while-"

"Oh it was in the newspaper! I remember now." Before he gets the chance to finish his sentence, my voice cuts him off. "Sorry." You could call it a force of habit, always shouting out the answers to everything. I'm not sure if it annoyed anyone but how would I know?

Merely nodding at my apology, he continues with his story.

"I woke up in an empty hospital with nothing but a white robe on. After leaving the hospital, I noticed that everything was rather strange." He fixes the guns in his sack, almost like what I did.

"How so?" Since the road is rather long and nothing seems to be in sight, I decide to prolong his tale.

"Aside from the trashed houses and cars," he coughs into his hand, "there was half a body on the ground."

His answer causes me to turn away, the disgusting body lingers in my head for a while longer. Rick must have taken notice of it because he soon starts talking again.

"A father and son lent me a hand, we both went our separate ways," he stops for a second, eyes focusing on something in the distance, "glad I did because on my way, I found someone."He finishes, giving me a nod.

A smile appears on my face at his reply, he was talking about me. Suddenly, he begins jogging up a hill, a house was at the top of it. There must be people and if not, possibly a place to rest. His form was becoming smaller and smaller and not wanting to be left behind, I trail after him.

The gust of wind makes my hair sway, strands ending up on my lips. With a spit and blow, my hair goes back to my side as I pat it all down. The grass below us, weeds really, are making soft crunching noises. Finally reaching the door to the little house, I notice it is open and Rick is already inside.

He's probably talking to the people or gathering supplies. Both of which, are good. Not wanting to be forgotten, again, I hurriedly make my way to him. Going through the white hallways and completely dismissing unopened doors. As soon as I reach a certain room however, my left hand instantly shoots up to cover the bottom half of my face. My eyes begin to water, tears threatening to spill down my face at the horrid stench occupying the room to the right of me.

"Ugh," my cough interrupts me in the middle of my sentence, "what stinks?" My hand has a tight hold on my mouth, trying to stop myself from both smelling and coughing yet, to no avail. Saliva gathers up on my palm, wanting to slip through my fingers and meet the floor I'm standing on. Instead of leaving the area and going back to where I previously was, my feet drift further towards the room.

Rick soon appears, blocking my line of vision. Grasping my elbow, he leads me outside, back to the cool breeze and fresh smell of grass. My breathing soon becomes normal and I notice that the stench is gone. He must've closed the door.

"The people who previously owned this house," he stops for a second, eyes focusing on the door, "left some rotting meat on the counter."

Nodding at his answer, I raise my arm, wiping my face with my wrist.

"They should've thrown it away." I mutter quietly. Finally rubbing off any lingering odor on my face, I look up towards Rick. Only to lock eyes on something else; something interesting.

"You ever ridden a horse before?"Rick who was at my side just a while ago, is now getting friendly with the lady horse. He was settling himself in, back of guns strapped to his back, hands grooming the soft mane; he was ready to go.

Shaking my head, I approach the horse with great caution. I read somewhere that when these fellas are startled well, it leads to huge disasters. Stopping a few feet beside the horse, my eyes travel along both its width and height. She's much taller than me, imagine her standing on her hind legs? It sends a shiver down my spine at the thought of it.

Rick reaches down towards me, palm awaiting mine.

As I was about to grab his hand, realization struck me. My bat was still in my hand. With a sigh, I sling my pack to the front of me and manage to shove it within the empty space; half of it sticking out the top. No way was I going to carry that in my hands to wherever we're going.

Remembering the reason why I stuck it inside my pack in the first place, I grab onto Rick's awaiting hand and manage to hoist myself up. Not knowing where else to grab, I wrap my arms around his middle, careful as to not set off the guns in front of me.

"Better hold on tight."

And those are the final words I hear from him before I feel the wind whipping my face and messing with my hair again. My eyes are tightly shut, the speed proving too much for my comfort. Finally, after a few terrifying minutes, I finally obtain the the nerve to open my eyes. Though squinting, the passing scenery that consists of grassy plains and fruit fields, is enough to calm me down. Eventually we reach the main road.

Perfect, as soon as I'm becoming tired. Slowly but surely I begin to lose consciousness.

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><p><strong><em>Rick<em>**

With a sleepin' Rinella on my back I continue on towards Atlanta. The place my friend told me about. It's a shame that this young girl has to grow up so fast and live her childhood in this, nightmare. If she's all alone now than something must have happened to her parents. Whatever the case, I need to get us to safety, find my family and then see if I can talk about what had happened to her. Lori, Carl, you both be ready for when we find you. There's going to be a new member to our family.

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><p>With nothing but a girl clinging to him, Rick believes in a friend's words and continues onward.<p>

It's nothing like he had described it.

Instead of a refugee camp and survivors, there are hundreds of burned out cars. All of which are pointing towards the way _out_ of the city. The road into the city is completely deserted. With no choice but to check out Atlanta for himself, Rick saddles on and soon finds himself inside the devastated metropolis. Roaming the destroyed town on horseback, he is shocked to find military blockades and worn out weapons. It seems as if his smooth sailing has became rough waves.

Dismembered Walkers awaken from all around them and begin to stagger towards them. He speeds up, trying to outrun these monsters but no matter which way they go, which alley they take, it's as if their numbers only seem to be growing. Hundreds, millions at a time.

The sound of the helicopter he had previously heard is now being drowned out by the moans and groans of the undead. The girl on his back is now slipping away from him. Her body tumbling to the ground below them.

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><p><em><strong>Rinella<strong>_

Rick's cozy jacket, it's slipping from my grasp! Opening my eyes, I catch sight of all the things around us. Hundreds of them are crowding us and just as his bag of guns were falling, so was I.

In just a short amount of time, my pack hits the ground first; body following soon after. Wincing at the impact my bat made with my shoulder, I bite my cheek to suppress a yell. No need to attract any more of them.

Rolling onto my side, I successfully dodge their teeth and nails just before they take a bite out of my head. Instead of biting me, they began gnawing on my bat and reaching for my bat. Startled by the groaning behind the nape of my neck, I roll over and shove my pack, mainly the bat, deep into its mouth.

To my dismay, Rick isn't anywhere. Not even the horse-oh no! The once beautiful horse is now a huge buffet for the horde. Before I know it, tears are prickling my eyes. This isn't right, none of it is. Looking towards my right, I find a tank and having no way to climb it, I resort to army crawling. The things are attracted to the horse and my pack but I still manage to kick a few that take notice of me.

Looking up towards the bottom of the tank, I found a hole; big enough for me to crawl in. Just like the book explained! I knew reading that military book wasn't a mistake. Just as I'm pulling myself up towards the escape route, someone grabs me by my elbow. Afraid of it being another one of those things, I try to wiggle my arm out of their grasp. Whatever it was, proved to be more stronger than me and pulls my body up into the tank.

Rick, it was Rick who saved me. He closes the small door, preventing any of those things from crawling in.

"…" I try calling out to him but no words come out of my body is still frozen in fear.

He seems out of it as well. Beside him is a dead soldier, one that must have worked inside here. As I begin to crawl towards him, I catch the soldier's head moving, slowly reaching out towards him. Rick soon notices it and holds a gun to its head.

"Ri-Rick! Wa-"My words are cut short as a resounding echo reverberates inside the tank. Covering my ears in the nick of time, I try humming to myself so I wouldn't suffer like Rick.

Hastily, he opens the top of the tank and shoves his head out, releasing himself from the deafening noise. He soon crawls back in, the things have already covered the top.

Taking a look at my arms, I notice that the sweater has black smudges,small holes, and blood marks. My once red sweater, has now become even darker than it's previous brick color. My face has a smudge of dirt so I lick my thumb and smudge it off. The mark was still there but it's lighter now, not as dark as before.

Rick looks in my direction, eyes narrowing at me. He pats my head but pulls his hand away; rather quickly.

Looking towards his hand, I catch the sight of blood. Patting the area of where he touched, wetness gathers in my hand. No way, I'm bleeding.

He looks around the small vehicle, trying to find something, anything that can stop the bleeding. Fortunately he finds some white cloths; bandages. He wraps it around my head, hair getting caught underneath it. My left eye is now being covered by my left bangs.

"Thanks Rick." I give him a half-hearted smile, crawling back to where I previously was; across from him. Bringing my knees up to my chest, my mind begins to wonder when this day, _nightmare_, is going to end.

Seconds pass with the both of us not uttering a sound. Just as I'm about to drift off to sleep, there's a crackle noise.

"Hey you, dumbass," We wait for the person to continue speaking, "you in the tank, cozy in there?"

There is a working radio.

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><p><strong>[Edit 49/14]**

**A/N**

**Yes I have cleaned this chapter up but I am not done yet. Sorry for any mistakes.**

**Thank you for taking your time to read this chapter. I really appreciate it.  
><strong>

**Hope you have a nice day and/or night.**


	4. Hiding Isn't Safe

**No-One's POV**

At a survivor's camp on a mountain outside Atlanta, survivors are handling various tasks – taking watch the top of an RV, fixing tools, or doing laundry. A woman in pink dumps picked mushrooms from a bucket into a bowl held by another woman who sits by a fire pit. Not knowing if the mushrooms are edible, the lady in pink asks her to ask a man called Shane when he gets back. The woman –who we now know as Lori- excuses herself to look for more mushrooms in the forest. She tells her son Carl –who's playing in the dirt- to stay where Dale –the old man atop the RV- can see him. Dale warns Lori not to go too far and if she sees anything, holler. She heads into the forest, a little unnerved by all the sounds and as she bends down, pair of hands grabs her from behind. Her scream is muffled but soon comes to realizing that her attacker was none other than her lover, Shane. As the two are undressing, they both eye her necklace which has a ring on it and she takes it off before continuing.

Rinella's POV

I watched as Rick began talking to this person over the CB Radio. The person began talking again and Rick bumped his head on a low bar before hastily reaching the communicator. With my head down I listened to the both of them converse, hoping that this person would really save us.

"Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you I'm a little concerned in here." I kept my knees up to my chest as I waited for this mysterious person to reply back to Rick.

"Oh man, you should see from over here. You'd be having a major freakout." I think I'm having a major freakout inside here. _Aside from the heat, I don't see why you would be the one freaking out. _There are zombies outside eating that beautiful horse and are on top of this tank! _Look imagine being in this guy's position, having to watch as the undead feast and both a child and adult are held inside a small tank obviously trapped. _I sighed and shook my head since I knew she was right aside from the child part, almost.

"Got any advice for me?"

"Yeah I'd say make a run for it." I looked up waiting for Rick's reply.

"That's it make a run for it?"

"My advice is not as dumb as it sounds, you got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek atop of the tank but the others have climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down, with me so far?" H'mm this guy actually had great advice.

"So far."

"Okay the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded if you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. You got ammo?" I checked my gun and had a few rounds.

"In that duffle bag I dropped out there it has guns, can I get to it?" He questioned while

"Forget about the bag okay, it's not an option. What do you have on you?"

"Hang on." I watched as Rick cocked his Beretta and began looking frantically around for something else of use. From my eye, I saw that he began checking the now dead soldier for anything. From my lone eye, I managed to see him grab something from a top shelf and put around his belt. Before going back to the radio, he looked towards me and I held out my cavalry for him. I mouthed the number 5 to him and he nodded. He nodded and reached for the radio to talk to our savior again.

"I got a Beretta with one clip 15 rounds, and a Cavalry with 5." Silence ensued afterwards. He was probably thinking.

"Make them count. Jump off the right side of the tank keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street maybe 50 yards, be there."

"Hey what's your name?" My ears perked up and I crawled a bit closer.

"Have you been listening, you're running out of time." I think I just made my unamused face right now. I backed up as Rick got his hands on a shovel and was about to open the top. Once he had it open, I heard a big banging sound and something moaning. He pulled himself out and reached for my hands. I grabbed on to him and he managed to lift me out. He jumped off the tank and landed on his back, similar to me but he got right back up. I jumped down as well but I made sure not to injure my back again. I had my gun out running right behind him. While he was shooting at the ones in front of him, I shot the ones that were quick on their feet on our sides. Rick was limping a bit from his fall but we managed to get through the street. Turning a corner into an alley, someone just seemed to literally pop out which had me startled and had my gun pointing directly at his chest. Rick on the other hand had it facing this person's face.

:Woah not dead come on come on faster!" Rick put me in front of himself and shot at a few of them from behind us. "Come on come on!" This strange guy was waving his hand around motioning for us to speed up. At the end of the alley, there was yellow ladder that lead upwards and he began to climb it. I put my old boy back on my hip and began frantically climbing the ladder after him. I looked downwards and saw Rick standing, looking around.

"Rick!" I stopped in my climbing and yelled down at him.

"What are you doing come on!" Rick began climbing after us and eventually we made it to a small platform where we had gotten off trying to catch our breath. I looked over the yellow rail and saw all of them reaching for us. My breathing hitched a bit and I gripped the rail but I soon relaxed when I looked away.

"Nice moves there Clint Eastwood. Are you the new sheriff? Come riding in to clean up this town?" I looked towards the both of them and loosened my grip on the rail.

"It wasn't my intention."

"Yeah whatever yehaw you're still a dumbass." I didn't know if he was joking or was really irritated. I'd go with irritated.

"Rick, thanks." He put his hand out and waited for the other guy.

"Glenn, you're welcome." They both shook hands and I just stood behind Rick, not really wanting to be noticed, like that'll happen. Glenn looked behind Rick and I shuffled a bit to my right to avoid being seen.

"How bout the one hiding there behind you?" Rick looked over his shoulder and moved out of the way so Glenn could see me. I looked up at Rick not really knowing want to do. Aside from that boy, I've never really had to introduce myself; I mean I found it slightly weird…now. He nodded to me and I decided to go with a light smile on my face.

"Rinella." I held my hand out towards Glenn and waited for his hand but instead he settled on patting my head.

"This is from when you fell right?" He asked motioning towards the cloths on my head. I nodded and after a few seconds of head patting, we all went back to looking down at the horde.

"Oh no." I looked down and noticed that one was already climbing up the ladder. Glenn looked up towards the sky and then looked back at Rick.

"Bright side, it'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass half full kind of guy." And off we went, climbing up the rest of the ladder. Once we made it to the roof I trailed alongside Rick this time. Not behind nor in front, just beside.

"You're the one who barricaded the alley?" I looked towards what he was talking about and saw a bus blocking them from getting in or out.

"Somebody did I guess when the city got overrun. Whoever did it was thinking how many geeks get through." _Geeks?_ I guess that's what he calls it. I don't really want to stick with zombies anymore, so geeks will have to do.

"Why'd you stick your neck out there for us?" Rick asked while Glenn opened up a passageway.

"I don't know, call it foolish naïve hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody might do the same for me. Guess I'm an even bigger dumbass than you." Glenn leads us down another ladder, down some staircases, and took out his radio. I knew I shouldn't have quite staying in shape. The ZA does have a lot of workouts such as running down staircases and climbing up ladders. I wasn't paying attention to what Glenn was saying I suppose, his friends but once we reached street level, there were four geeks and I backed up a few steps. We all waited for a while before some guys with bats in heavy gear came out and started beating them.

"Let's go!" Glenn shouted and we all ran inside the store.

"Son of a bitch we gotta kill you!" I was beside Glenn when some random blonde lady had a gun pointing at Rick's face. My eyes widened but I didn't want to take a step in fear of her actually shooting him.

"Just chill out Andrea back off." One of the guys, who had beaten up the geeks, took off his helmet.

"You're kidding me right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole." I could tell her face was full of rage and I managed to take a few steps forward before Glenn stopped me.

"No you shouldn't." He whispered to me and I had the urge to just tackle Andrea to the ground but I know that would be idiotic. My shoulder eased down a bit when he touched it but I was still worried and angered.

"Andrea I said back the hell off." The guy told her again and even turned her around a bit to look at Glenn and me. Everyone turned actually, as well as Rick.

"Or pull the trigger." I guess my face was more worried than angered because after she looked at me, she put her gun down. I inwardly sighed when she had.

"We're dead all of us, because of you." Everyone was panting, the exception being Glenn and me. I went back to standing beside Glenn since everyone was pretty mad and we didn't want to be a part of it.

"I don't understand." Rick finally said.

"Look we came into the city to scavenge supplies, you know what the key to scavenging is, surviving. You know what the key to surviving is, sneaking in and out not shooting up the street." The guy led us down a hall and I was horrified at what I saw. Everyone aside from the Glenn and me were talking to Rick about how he attracted all the geeks in the city. All of them were banging on the glass trying to break through and one even had a rock. There's no telling how much time will pass before they are able to break through and most likely, in a short amount of time.

"Oh god, the hell were you doing out there anyways?" Everyone began backing up as they began trying to break through with more force.

"Trying to follow the helicopter." I nodded when Glenn stared down at me as if to ask me that.

"Helicopter man that's crap there ain't no helicopter." This guy with a hat said. I just glared at him.

"It was just a hallucination, it happens." My glare shifted from the hat guy to this African-American lady.

"I saw it." Rick insisted, and everyone had quieted down

"Hey T-Dog try that CB could you contact the others?" Oh so that was his name and it had the word dog in it well, I'm not that mad anymore.

"Others, the refugee center?" Rick questioned the group.

"Yeah the refugee center, they got biscuits waiting in the oven for us." Sheesh, no need for the sarcasm lady. I crossed my arms and had my cheeks puffed out a bit. This group is a bit irritating but I have a feeling I'll like them…weird.

"Got no signal, maybe the roof?" That's when I nearly jumped because a gunshot had sounded.

"Oh man was that Dixon?" Everyone almost groaned and began walking up towards the roof. I pulled on Glenn's sleeve and I managed to get his attention.

"Who's Dixon?" I hadn't realized it at first but I think I tilt my head to the side when asking questions. He just groaned.

"You'll see." If Glenn doesn't like him, then he must be a "bad guy". Once we reached the top of the roof, there was this tall Caucasian guy shooting down those geeks. While everyone was shouting at him, he just went on and laughed about how everyone should be polite to a man with a gun. I didn't get to hear everything but I knew T-Dog was yelling at Dixon.

"Hey bad enough I got this taco-bender on my ass all day, now I gotta deal with you? I don't think so bro that'll be the day." Oh and he's racist too, just like my old family member. _Bitter memories aren't fun to remember you know?_ Yeah, yeah I know.

"That'll be the day; you got something you want to tell me?" T-Dog questioned him.

T-Dog, Dixon, and who I now know is named Morales were talking and shouting. I looked up at Glenn and he just shook his head when Rick turned to him. When I turned back to look at them that's when I saw T-Dog throw a punch and Merle hit him with the back of his rifle. A fight broke out and everyone began running up to them trying to stop them but it was to no avail. I saw Rick try to help but then he got punched away. He was being racist at a time like this, what is wrong with this person! I didn't know what to do; I mean everyone was scared of getting punched. T-Dog got kicked in the stomach and that sent him to the floor. I looked to my right and saw Glenn trying to stop them as well. I really want to help T-Dog but I can't do much with only one eye since the other was covered. Without a thought in my mind of what I was about to do, I ran towards Rick and made sure he wasn't bleeding or anything but he was out of it.

"Rick, hang in there." I told him and then went to where Glenn was. My hand was itching towards my boy but I didn't want to risk me bringing out a gun and someone dying. While he was off trying to kill T-Dog, I hid my gun behind some rails so he wouldn't take it away from me. Merle finally let go of T-Dog and everyone dragged him away tending to his wounds but Merle kept on talking waving his gun in the air.

"Democracy time y'all show of hands huh? All in favor HUH? Come on let's see em." I kneeled down by T-Dog and managed to rip a piece of my cloth which I used to stop his nose from bleeding. He looked towards me and I simply smiled there was no way I was going to raise my hand for a man like him.

"Yeah that's good, yeah. Oh wait what about you huh?" He looked towards me and I just stared at him. Glenn tried getting me to raise my hand but I ripped my hand away from his. Merle began walking closer towards me. "Come on you do it like thi-" He had gotten my wrist but I slapped him and pulled away.

"Don't touch me." He had gotten angrier and tugged me upwards by my hair, it made me wince. It's not like I was dangling but I was on my tippy toes. Everyone seemed to have gotten quiet I guess in fear of him hurting me or possibly killing me.

"You're a feisty one aren't ya'? You know, if you were a bit older I would've probably been attracted to ya?" Ugh, his smile sure was creepy.

"Yeah well I would never have been attracted to such a racist bastard like you." I guess he didn't seem to like my answer one bit because he tugged harder and I grit my teeth.

"My family didn't take insults from no body and they sure as hell didn't like it when my brother and I acted up. That would earn us a good smack on the face." I was more annoyed than afraid because I wasn't even biting my tongue when he would talk.

"I don't feel the need to know about your life story." This earned me a good whack in the cheek by the handle of his gun. My cheek was going to swell I could feel it.

"Merle!"

"Dixon!"

"What? It's not like she's yours and you saw the way she treated her elder." I looked behind Merle and saw Rick grabbing the rifle that Merle had dropped. Knowing what he was about to do, I clenched my eyes shut and kicked him where it hurts. He let go of me and I managed to land on my back again but this time, I actually landed on something soft. Such as Glenn's legs. His face looked red with anger and when he was about to grab me again, Rick knocked him out with his rifle. He took out a pair of handcuffs and chained him to a pipe.

"Who the hell are you man?!"

"Officer friendly." I re-tied my cloth but this time removed my bangs so I can see with both my eyes again. "Look here Merle, there aren't no niggers anymore, no shit in bred white trash fools either, only dark meat and white meat, there's us and the dead, we survive this by pulling together not apart."

"Screw you man." He sure doesn't listen. I tried smiling at Rick's speech but even that hurt.

"I can see you making a habit of missing the point."

"Yeah well screw you twice." It looked like Rick had lost his patience and decided to pull out his gun.

"Better be polite to a man with a gun only common sense." We looked on and waited for Rick's move.

"You wouldn't, you're a cop." Rick lowered his gun.

"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and his son. Anybody gets in the way of that's gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that." Rick checked his pockets and took a small canister out. He threw it over the roof which got Merle riled up. He started walking towards Glenn and me.

"Alright that should do it." Glenn just finished put a small square bandage on my now purple swollen cheek. Since I couldn't give him a smile, I went with a thumb's up. Rick kneeled down next to us and looked at my now bruised face.

"Does it hurt?" I shook my head. "What you did out there was reckless and you should've listened. You could've gotten seriously injured."

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry." I had my head down and I felt someone start rubbing my head.

"It's not alright, but promise me," He took a moment to look around "Us and try not be so reckless because you'll make people worry." I nodded and sent an apologetic look to everyone since I felt really guilty for making them worry.

"Well you have guts if you were able to stand up to Dixon, most people tend to back down." I looked up at Andrea who was smiling and I kinda gave a sheepish smile…even though it hurt. Rick had gotten up and went to go talk with Morales and I sat here talking with everyone.

"Are you usually that stubborn?" I looked at Glenn with a thoughtful look.

"H'mm no. I actually tend to hold myself back in certain situations and now was my only time of not holding back. I feel quite good because of it." I sheepishly rubbed my head as he laughed. "Though I guess when it comes to hurting my friends, then I tend to get protective. "He nodded at my answer. '_Though my first friend was that boy and even then the only thing I could do was use big words on the kids and they would leave him alone. I was called a nerd though.' _ I smiled and bared the hidden pain because I, have friends now.

**Author's Note**

**Yeah I do not know where I was going with this at the end but either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's 2:00 AM over here and I am tired so part 2 will be up tomorrow. My inner "shipper self" is shipping characters together already. Oh well, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter even if the ending kinda sucked ( - A - ) Oh and sorry for any spelling mistakes which I hope aren't a lot. Good Night!..Morning!**

**Inspirational Song – Echo sung by Jason Walker**


	5. Just How Many Are Here?

**Thank you all who have been reading and of course the reviewers as well. Let's see what happens in this chapter now! **

Rinella's POV

The group was finished talking about sewers, so now we're gonna be taking a smelly way out. Before we left, I grabbed my gun from where I left it. We went back down the stairs and walked towards a manhole.

"This is it, you sure?" Rick questioned everyone while pointing the flashlight down at the entrance.

"I already scooped this place out last time I was here, it's the only thing that goes down but I've never gone down it. Who'd want to right?" I didn't judge Glenn for not being able to go down it because I don't think I would've either. One of them could just lunge at you and you wouldn't even expect it. From the corner of my eye I saw everyone turn their heads and well I didn't know what they were looking at so I turned my head to the left as well. Now I feel bad for Glenn today's his lucky day to go and explore a place that he's never been to before. I didn't want to appoint Glenn to be the one to go down so I turned my head down and just kept staring at the entrance.

"Oh great." His voice wavered a bit which made me feel guilty. Well, at least I'm not-

"Don't worry we'll be right behind you." Andrea reassured Glenn. Dang it now I have to go as well!

"No you won't. Not you." I looked up at Glenn wondering why he didn't want us to go but then again I don't have a problem with that.

"You think I can't do it?" I looked over at Andrea and turned to stare at Glenn, waiting for his reply.

"I wasn't…"

"Speak your mind." Rick was right I mean, he should speak up because it looks like everyone makes him do the dangerous jobs and I don't think he enjoys it all that much. He gulped and looked at everyone and when he got to me I just gave him a small thumbs up so no one else could see.

"Look until now I always came here by myself, in and out grab a few things no problem." Everyone was listening to him and I think I know where he's going with this. "First time I bring a group, everything goes to hell. No offense. "Of course I think everyone understands where he's coming from. You do something excellent by yourself but then when multiple people start doing the same thing with you, it gets difficult. "If you want me to go down this hole, fine but only if we do it my way. It's tight down there if I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me and get me killed. I'll take one person." Makes sense. I turned my full body so I could stare at him and see who he's taking. Rick stepped up to the plate.

"Not you either. You got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors, covering our asses. You've got another gun so I'd prefer it if you went with him." He told Andrea and she didn't object, assigned the last two people jobs and finally we were ready to go. I watched him as he went down the ladder and when we made eye contact I waved to him.

"_Be safe." _ I mouthed the word to him since I really didn't want anyone else to hear. Even though he couldn't do a gesture or anything, I could tell he knew what I said by the reassuring gaze he sent me.

"Let's go you're staying with me." Rick pats my shoulder and off we go to guard the store. I walked right over to the glass cases where the jewelry was held. Wow, I'd never seen anything as pretty as this. I eyed some bracelets that had gem stones in them and words engraved. _Never say die_(1) were the words I could make out and to be honest I wanted it but I was never really the type to go crazy over jewelry. Sighing, I walked around the store some more and found some children books. I heard Andrea and Rick talking but I couldn't really make out the words since I was on the other side behind some clothing racks. Scanning the books, I only found one I recognized and that was "If You Gave A Mouse A Cookie" To be honest, I wasn't really fond of children's books and my parents never bought me any so I stuck with what's considered "Adult Books" to kids. I looked back towards them and they seemed to be doing fine. I was happy that they had gotten used to each other. A loud sound of glass shattering interrupted my thoughts and that's when I jogged up to Rick and stood beside him with my hand itching towards the gun on my waist. Glenn and everyone else came when they heard the glass shattering and the geeks begun knocking on the second set.

"What did you find down there?" Rick questioned.

"Not a way out." Morales answered.

"We need to find a way." I heard Andrea say.

"And fast." My voice slightly wavered because I was actually scared. I mean when they're chasing me outside, I can outrun them but when I'm trapped with no place to go, the most I can do is use my gun and even that wouldn't be enough. We all ran back up to the roof and Rick was handed some binoculars. Everything was quiet and only the light wind was heard before Rick spoke up.

"That construction site, those trucks they always keep keys on hand." I peered over the top of the roof and tried looking at the trucks Rick pointed out. Morales took the binoculars and peered through them as well. I looked down at the geeks and noticed there were more of them.

"Woah there's more." I couldn't believe how many were here now. I felt someone grab hold of my shoulder and pull me back gently to keep me from falling. I looked back at the person and saw it was Glenn.

"You'll never get past the walkers." Morales said.

"You got Rinella and me out of that tank." I nodded at Rick's words.

"Yeah but they were feeding, they were distracted." Glenn told us. I peered up at him with my hair thankfully not covering my face.

"Well we just need to distract them again right?" I asked him with a curious tone. He seemed a light on edge since my eyes looked straight at his.

"Right, listen to bandage over there." Merle joined in on our conversation. "A diversion, like on Hogan's Heroes." But I'm going to ignore him since he gave me these bandages.

"God, give it a rest." Jaqui's exhausted voice was heard. I'm getting pretty annoyed by him right now.

"They're drawn by sound, right?" Rick stole back the spotlight.

"Right, like dogs. They hear sound, they come."

"What else?"

"Aside from they hear you? They smell you, they see you and if they catch you, they eat you." Morales finished summing up everything for us.

"They can tell us by smell?"

"Can't you?" Glenn asked Rick as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I thought that since they were dead, some of their normal body functions wouldn't work." I seriously had thought that because they're just rotting flesh.

"They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct." Andrea said, staring directly at Rick. He sucked in a deep breath and had an apologetic look on his face. Oh no if he wants us to smell dead then the only way to do that would be too, ugh.

"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold." Glenn stared at the rubber gloves he was handed. We all went back down to the bottom floor and dragged in one of the dead bodies. I'm pretty sure everyone thought this was a bad and out of this world idea but I personally think this will work. I stood in my long coat waiting for Rick to begin chopping up this guy. He shattered the glass which had the axe inside and walked back to the table where the body was laid. As soon as he was about to chop him with the axe, he stopped midway and dropped everything he had. At first I wondered why but then I saw him take out a wallet from its pants.

"Wayne Dunlap." He began, "Georgia license, born in 1979." He handed the card to me and I took a while looking at this person's age and birth date before handing it to Glenn. "He had $28 in his pocket when he died, and a picture of a pretty girl." He took out the photo and read what was on the back. "With love, from Rachel." He took a breath. "He used to be like us—worrying about bills or the rent or the Super Bowl. If I ever find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne." He picked up the axe and face mask before Glenn spoke again.

"One more thing." Everyone turned their heads. "He was an organ donor." It was quiet for a moment before the axe came down on the person's midsection. I winced when I saw what the axe had done so I did what I always did when I was disgusted-_Rarely- _I covered my eyes with both my hands and Glenn covered my ears so I wouldn't need to hear all the melon popping sounds. Though it was almost to no avail since I could still hear the bones cracking and rotten flesh getting squashed, I appreciated the gesture. This went on for a while before I heard Rick telling someone to keep chopping. Whether it was T-Dog or Morales I don't know. Finally, I uncovered my eyes and Glenn lifted his hands from my ears.

"Everybody got gloves?" Everyone was still disgusted by what had just happened so no one replied. I didn't feel sick because all I had eaten were donuts but the smell was horrible. "Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes." Rick was the first to dig in and grab a few chunks of organs to spread on his coat. I was helping Glenn with the blood spreading and he was groaning because of it.

"Aren't you disgusted by it?" I shook my head at his question and just to make him more displeased, grabbed some intestines to hang on him.

"Well no because I read lots of horror books and my imagination is just as bad as horror movies." He just groaned a bit more and then I was done rubbing all the blood on him.

"Your turn." He was about to grab some blood and rub it on me before Andrea interjected.

"Nuh uh boys help boys, and girls help girls." She motioned to T-Dog spreading blood on Rick's coat. "After all, you can't touch a girl's body unless she allows you." They shared a knowing look and it made Glenn's face a bit red. I tilted my head since I really didn't know what they were talking about. She rubbed some blood on my chest and put some organs on me just like I had done with Glenn. I guess everyone liked picking on Glenn because they still covered him with more blood.

"Oh god this is bad, this is really bad."

"Think about something else, like puppies and kittens." Rick suggested. I really wanted to giggle a bit because of the look on his face. Looks like I still wasn't done because Andrea and Jaqui covered me more than I think I needed to be.

"Dead puppies and kittens." T-Dog muttered. I heard him coughing and then just a big splatter noise. I turned around from where I was standing and watched his hunched over form. I was pretty much done so I walked over to him and clenched his shoulder while rubbing his back.

"That is just evil what is wrong with you?" Andrea told him.

"Next time let the cracker beat his ass." I head Jaqui tell someone.

"I'm sorry yo." T-Dog apologized.

"You suck." Glenn replied still feeling sick.

"Do we smell like them?" I sniffed myself and that was a bad idea because I ended up coughing a bit.

"Oh yeah." Andrea answered with a hint of disgust on her face. She walked over to where Glenn and I had been and gave him her gun. "Watch her." He stood up straight when she slid it in his pants.

"If we make it back, be ready." Rick told everyone.

"What about Merle Dixon?" T-Dog questioned him. Rick put his hand in his pocket and tossed a key to T-Dog.

"Give me the axe." Morales handed it to him. "We need, we need more guts." And down the axe came chopping him into more pieces. When we were ready, we began walking down the road with a fake limp. I was between the both of them and I think I already looked dead because of the bandages, the cloth around my head, and the bruises. I was still worried though because we had a long way to go. On my Right a walker began sniffing Glenn and on my left, one was also sniffing Rick. We crawled under the bus and began walking with our limp still. I looked down and saw a crawling geek. I decided that I'm going to call the crawling ones geeks and the walking ones walkers. I looked up and saw clouds casting overhead. A walker began sniffing Glenn and he groaned to make it go away. I felt droplets landing on my head and when I looked up, it began down pouring like someone decided to play a cruel joke on us. Walkers had started looking at us and began growling almost.

"Smells washing on off isn't?" Glenn asked panicked.

"No it's not." A walker came up to him and growled but left. "Well maybe." Another one came up to him with his mouth wide open ready to bite. Rick axed his head in an instant. "RUN!" We all started running and the walkers were right behind and they practically surrounded us. Rick used his axe on the ones in front of him while I just threw some of the organs at some. A fence was in front of us so I jumped as high I can and crawled over. Rick and Glenn were right behind me. I tore off my coat and took out my boy. I shot at the ones pushing on the fence while Rick shot the ones climbing above it.

"Rick!" Glenn tossed Rick a key and we all hurried to the white truck awaiting. I climbed in and sat in the middle while Glenn barely jumped in after me and a walker began clawing at the window. Looking forward I saw all the walkers give one final push and down came the fence.

"God oh god there all over that place."

"You need to draw them away from the store. That's what I need cleared."

"There's too many of them." Glenn said frantically.

"Radio your friends, tell them to get down there, be ready." Rick ordered him.

"I-I-I draw the geeks away how, I missed that part?!"

"By noise." I told him. We need to save the others they're my friends and friends don't leave each other behind.

Rick broke the window of a new red car and ordered Glenn to drive it. I was going to follow Rick to the truck but then he stopped me.

"You go with Glenn. Make it to camp safely." He had his hand on my hand and I nodded at him. I ran back to the car and crawled over Glenn since I was already tired from the running and limping. He winced slightly since I was practically crushing him.

"Sorry!" I hopped into the passenger seat and put my seatbelt on. He radioed the gang and told them to get to the front. I stared out the window when we passed by the truck and waved to Rick when I saw him staring. I sat back in my seat and watched as all the walkers began banging and crowding the car.

"Get closer get closer!" Glenn yelled and did a U-Turn. Good thing I had my seatbelt on because I would've hit my head. In a few minutes we were on the clear freeway and Glenn began shouting.

"Woah! Yahoo!" I just shook my head and let him shout his head off smiling and laughing a bit.

"That was the first time I heard you laugh!" He yelled to me.

"Yeah well, I don't do it that often!" I shouted back. I rubbed my cheek and even though all my bandages and cloth were wet, I left them on because they were given by special people.

**Author's Note**

So I hope you liked this chapter and the next one will be up tomorrow around 2:00AM again like always. Haha I hope you liked this chapter because I worked…hard on it ( o – o ) and sorry for any yeah, I hope you're excited for what's to come and that's the 3rd episode in this season so I think I'll be able to finish by Saturday if I work in the mornings as well. Good night everyone because it's 2:50 AM and I've got exams tomorrow ( - A -)/ So yeah good…morning and stay tune for the next episode! I mean chapter!

Inspirational Song – _Days of Dash_ Sang by Konomi Suzuki


	6. Hello, How are you?

**I do not own The Walking Dead and I had completely forgotten that I had written (1) on the last chapter. Anyways, Never Say Die was something that my sister had gotten tattooed and I liked it. So I really do not want Rinella to meet Carl yet but whatever happens, happens. Oh and I'll get up early on Saturday just so I can hopefully finish and complete all the season 1 episodes and start season 2. I'm going to try sticking to that plan but we'll see what happens. Chapter start!**

**Rinella's POV**

"Glenn how many minutes till we reach your camp?" My chin was resting on my knees as I waited for his reply.

"It usually takes about an hour but in this thing, probably around 30 minutes." I nodded and had my eyes half closed since it was so boring. My head kept bobbing up and down because I was so tired but I really didn't want to sleep yet. I looked forward and I see are some trees and a dirt road. No signs of humanity anywhere. My head bobbed one more time before I was asked a question.

"Hey you bored, you wanna play a question game or something?" I turned my head to him and nodded.

"Yeah," I covered my mouth with my hand as I yawned. "You first." I turned my head to stare out the window before the questions were asked.

"Favorite color?" His question seemed to just get me thinking. I unzipped my jacket and took a look at the color.

"Yellow." Since his eyes were still on the road he probably didn't see that. Probably. "My turn?" His nod was my answer. I took a few seconds to think up a good question. "Where are you from?"

"Michigan." He swerved the car for the 4th time but this time I squashed my index finger between the car door and me. I squeezed my finger and rocked my head back and forth mentally screaming _Ow._ Glenn snickered when he saw me holding my finger and I looked at him with furrowed brows.

"Dang stop swerving the car so much!" I whispered/yelled to him.

"Sorry." He bowed his head slightly but then put his eyes on the road once more. "Do you ever curse?" I shook my head to his question.

"How was your life before this?" I went back to staring out the window and looking at the passing scenery.

"I was delivered pizzas, yours?" Pizza sounded good right now I wonder if they're still some frozen ones hidden somewhere out there.

"Dull, favorite animals?" For some reason my own voice was void of any emotion and I don't know if I'm just bored or sad.

"Er don't have any, never had one, yours?"

"Mammals, you know what just ask the questions I don't really have anything to ask you aside it being family related." I sighed laid my head on the window glass.

"Sure, life before the world went to hell?"

"School." I'm pretty sure he wasn't happy with my one word answers but I just wasn't feeling like talking.

"Any siblings?"

"No." It's true I was an only child and was burdened with having my parents well, as my parents.

"Any friends at all?" This was an easy one and didn't include much thinking on my part.

"One." I lifted my sleeve on my right arm only to be faced with light red marks. Oh right, I'll have to find some water or something to wash these off.

"Gender, name?" My eyes were beginning to close again but I tried my hardest to stay awake. Even with the alarm blaring, I still felt like sleeping.

"Boy, and" I just needed to answer this last question. I knew it was an American name but where did it originate from? I opened my mouth to speak but darkness soon overcame me.

**Glenn's POV**

She answered all my questions with just one word each. How is that even possible? I know when you ask kids questions they tend to add more than what you actually needed to know. Now that I think about, she's taking a long time to answer this question. I turned my head only to see you her knocked out cold. She must be a heavy sleeper if she can rest even while a car alarm is on. I turned back to the empty road ahead and sped up to get to the camp faster.

**No-One's POV**

The quietness at a camp is interrupted when the sound of a car comes driving in. With the alarm still blaring and echoing across the vastness of the mountains, a young adult steps out and is revealed to be Glenn. Suddenly, a blond young girl runs up to him bombarding him with questions as to where her sister may be. Two males Dale and a man named Shane demand that Glenn turn off the alarm.

"I don't know how!" He answered Dale.

"Would you pop the hood please, pop the damn hood!" He put his hands in the air as Shane started demanding more forcefully. Banging on the car's hood to emphasize his demand. Glenn went back in the car and popped it for him. He turned back to the blond to answer her question/s.

"Yeah yeah, she's okay!" He assured her.

"Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's okay?" She insisted.

"Yes, yeah fine." He took a breath. "Everybody is, well Merle not so much."

"You crazy driving this crazy bastard up here trying to draw every walker for miles?" Shane chastises Glenn for drawing attention to their location.

"I think we're okay." Dale comments.

"You call being stupid okay?" Shane asks him.

"Well sounds are echoing all over these hills, hard to pinpoint the source." Shane gives him an annoyed look. "I'm not arguing I'm just saying and it wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time would it?" His attention was directed towards Glenn again.

"Sorry." He apologizes sadly then comments trying to lighten up the situation. "I got a new car." The conversation is interrupted when a cube white van shows up. Andrea emerges from it and tearfully reunites with the other blond known as her sister Amy. As more people begin emerging from the van, families are tearfully reunited once more. Lori pulls her son Carl away from the group and begins to comfort him about his dad, her husband.

"New guy got us out." Glenn explains to everyone and Morales calls Rick out.

"Hey helicopter guy!" He turns to Shane. "He's a cop, like you." Rick and Shane share stunned glances which causes Carl to turn and Lori's eyes to follow.

"DAD!" As Carl runs into Rick's open arms, Lori races after him to embrace her once broken family. Seconds soon became minutes and Rick remembered someone.

"Glenn, where's Rinella I want her to meet my family." He tells him.

"Oh she fell asleep in the car while we were driving up here but I can wake her up." He leaves without his answer towards the car.

**Rinella's POV**

I felt someone shaking me and feeling it was urgent, got up straight away. It was a bad decision on my part because I felt my head hit something. Hard.

"Ow." I shouted rubbing the spot on my red which might turn red later.

"What was that for?" I heard Glenn say. I looked up and stared at him with one eye closed, wincing.

"You're the one who woke me up."

"We're at the camp well, we've been at the camp for a while now but you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you up." I rubbed my eyes and followed him when he stepped out of the car. Looking around, I noticed how many people were here and staring at me. Oh people, people, people staring at me! I was panicking slightly in my head. _Calm down already. _How can I, I'm not good with people! I gave a smile since my bruise seemed to become less painful already. I took a step back wondering where Rick was.

"Rinella it's my, it's my family." I turned my head to see Rick hugging his boy and his wife standing alongside beside him. The child turned his head and that's when I felt like a million weights had been lifted from my shoulders.

_(Thank you) _

"C-Carl?" I asked shakily. He looked almost as shocked as I was. Rick not knowing what relation we had, put his son down.

"Ella?" He questioned with the same tone as I. Oh my, it's him. It's definitely him!

_I want to say "Thank you"_

He was the only one who used that nickname. I hadn't told anyone else about it and, and!

_(Thank you)_

My vision became blurry and not knowing what else to do began rubbing my eyes. It doesn't matter if I was sobbing, no not now. Not one bit.

_I want to give the words of gratitude to someone_

It was quiet around the camp aside from my sobbing. Footsteps were coming towards me and I managed to stop my crying only to see Carl in front of me.

_(Thank you)_

I must've looked like a mess. Dirt stains on my jeans, sweaters littered with rip marks, cloth torn up and nearly falling off of my head, bandage covering my left cheek, and hair disoriented. He suddenly embraced me and that's when I couldn't hold in the tears anymore and let them roll down my cheeks.

_It only has to be just one time_

I hugged him as well and if he wasn't supporting me; I think I would've fallen to the ground by now. I had finally found him and this joyful feeling that I am feeling inside, inside my chest, I am foreign to. I had never felt so happy and relieved at the same time before, in my life. I never even imagined myself to be this, this distraught over finding my first, incomparable, _**best friend**__. _

_I want to cry from the bottom of my heart and say "Thank you!"_

**Author's Note**

Did I get you haha, I'm pretty sure I didn't but I felt like tearing up when listening to the song and writing this. Sorry I ended it here but my Netflix didn't want to play the episode anymore so I stopped here for now. Tomorrow though, to make it up to you all, I'll write up to the 6th episode and maybe, the 7th! So, if I were you I would reread the part where Rinella finally finds her FIBF. I have exams again tomorrow for Chinese and I really hope I pass so I need to go to sleep; it's 2:38 AM over here. (! w ! )/ Good Ni-Morning!

Inspirational Song – **Hello/ How are you** - Covered by **Ritsuka **

'Original sung by **Hatsune Miku**'

I REALLY RECOMMEND YOU READ THE LYRICS/WATCH THE PV

**Sorry for any mistakes you find! ** \(o u o)/


	7. It's Not Right

**Haha, sorry everyone but when I got home I fell asleep and then I got up around 10:00 but went to sleep again. I'm awake now so I'll complete the chapters that I said I would. I'm combining two episodes in this one so, just 1 more chapter until season 2. Anyways, I don't own The Walking Dead and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Rinella's POV**

After multiple questions about how I knew Carl were asked, we had finally settled around a campfire. That was one of the only times I had cried so I had finally went back to my blank expression with no idea of what to do now. I really shouldn't look weak for I want to earn my keep in this camp and not be a burden to anyone. I touched my cheek and felt something warm and then I remembered that my bandages were switched. In the afternoon when everyone was asking about Rick and Lori's relationship, Glenn managed to find more bandages and replaced the one on my cheek. He also tore off the cloth since the bleeding had stopped. Carl was there and had asked about my injuries to which I had just said that I was being stubborn.

"Disoriented, I guess that comes closest…disoriented." Everyone was silent when Rick was talking about his thoughts. I was seated Criss-crossed between Glenn and Carl, listening to how Rick felt when he'd first awaken. "Fear, confusion, all those things but disoriented comes closest." He held his wife and son close, never wanting to let them go.

"Words can mean meager things, sometimes they fall short." I agreed with Dale I mean, it happens with me sometimes.

"I felt like I had been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma, dream, something I might not wake up from. Ever."

"Mom said you died." I heard Carl say. I couldn't blame her, I mean I thought lots of people had died.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it." From the corner of my eye, I saw Lori had lifted her head to stare at someone. I followed her gaze and noticed it was Shane. My mind began coming up with all these thoughts and questions that, I couldn't even listen to what everyone was saying anymore. Had these two really believed that? Do they have some sorta secret that they don't want anyone to know about? I rubbed my temples; I felt a major headache coming on from all this thinking.

"Yeah, looks don't deceive." I heard Shane start talking. I brought my head to look at him and listen to what he had to say. Although, I felt like something was…wrong. I'll have to steer clear from this guy. "I barely got them out, you know?" _Just like Glenn. _Yup, just like him.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." I'm grateful to someone as well. Actually, I'm grateful to two.

"There go those words falling short again, paltry things." Dale had spoken again but with a smile this time around. I smiled at his words. I think I'm beginning to like this guy. He seemed wise.

"And I also found Lil' Rinnie over here." I looked up at everyone when he had said my name. Well, more like an altered version of it. I looked around and saw everyone staring at me. I felt embarrassed being the center of attention. It seemed like they were judging me from head to toe. Not knowing what else to do, I awkwardly laughed.

"Yup." I said while rubbing my head. Some people had chuckled while others smiled at my reaction. I looked up at Rick and noticed he too was smiling. I felt happy that I made people laugh, even if it wasn't my intention.

"She seemed just as lost as I did. No one around, just her by herself." He continued. So feeling like it was my duty, took her in." I gave him a "Wait, what" face with one eyebrow raised and leaning back.

"You didn't take me in, I decided to keep you company." I playfully smiled. This earned me a smile from him.

"Maybe." I knew I was lying. This new world was just too much and I, I couldn't bear living in it alone. I think he knew it too. I jumped slightly when a thud and cracking noises were heard. Mine and everyone's head had turned around at the sound of it. A tall man and a thin woman with short cropped hair were seated by the fire. A girl with short blond hair was seated by them and who I presume is their child. Though, she really looked nothing like them but I guess it was because of the lack of light.

"Hey Ed, you wanna rethink that log?" I'm guessing Shane is the leader of this group?

"It's cold man." Ed replied bring out a cigarette. Ugh, he's a smoker, have fun with your lungs.

"The cold don't change the rules does it? Keep our fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance right?" Yeah that's smart; we don't want the dead up here.

"I said it's cold, why don't you mind your own business for once." Oh now he's done it. I could tell just from Shane's posture that he'd had enough. He walked past everyone and towards Ed's camp where his family was seated. Once Shane had came back, Dale began talking.

"Have you given all though to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." Oh no, Merle's brother, I hope he doesn't have a temper like him.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key it's on me." I looked at T-Dog and noticed his face was full of regret.

"I cuffed him, that makes it mine." Rick said and then I turned to him.

"Guys it's not a competition." Glenn started. "Don't mean to bring race into this but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn turned to me and continued talking. "Also, if it's anybody's fault, it's his. He couldn't calm himself down and what he did to T-Dog, Rinella, they didn't deserve that." I smiled at what he said even though, I'm pretty sure it was my fault for what happened to my face. It was news to some about what happened to me but they didn't ask me anything about it.

"You tried to help him." I turned my head to stare at T-Dog. "It was an accident, he'll have to understand that." He nodded at my words.

"We could lie." Amy suggested. I smiled, if only that would work.

"Or tell the truth, like Glenn said. Merle was out of control, something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." She stared at Lori. "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale questioned everyone. Oh yeah forgot it's his brother we're talking about. "I don't see it rational a discussion to be held from that, do you? Words to the wise, we're going to have a handful when he comes back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran, I'm not ashamed of it." I heard T-Dog say.

"We were all scared, we all ran. What's your point?" Andrea questioned.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow, maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at one time. It's not enough to break through there, not that chain-not that padlock."

"Which means, Merle's still alive." I stated, thinking.

"And he's still up there handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." I watched T-Dog leave the area and go to what I assume is, his tent. I watched as everyone else did the same having no family to go, decided to stay by the dying fire. I felt someone's hand on my head and a voice following soon after.

"Hey, there's extra room in my tent if you're tired." It was Glenn.

"Hmph, thanks but I can do just fine sleeping outside." I told him, turning my head.

"Really? Well your shivering doesn't seem to follow your words." I squeezed my arms and I was shivering. Mountains, why do you need to be so cold?

"Fi-fin you win this round but I'll win the next time." I stated as I got up and followed him.

"We'll see." Cocky guy. Once we reached his tent, I dived right into the blankets and rolled myself up into a little cocoon.

"Hey don't go hogging up all the blankets." Glenn told me. He pulled at the blanket and then I remembered something.

"Oh yeah, Glenn." I unrolled my self from all the blankets and watched as he made his side.

"Yeah?" He questioned not paying attention and already working on my side.

"Here, put this somewhere safe please." I handed him my gun.

"I almost forgot you had this." He went off and tucked it away somewhere by the tent entrance. Once everything was good and my bed was ready, I took off my sweaty and put that by the entrance as well. I crawled into my blankets and turned to the side.

"Hey Glenn?" I asked him.

"What is it?" He said with a tired tone.

"I have something important to tell you, would you mind hearing me out?" I asked with a sad tone to my voice.

"No ask away." He seemed interested by this point so I took a deep breath.

"Do you think," I began. "Rick and Lori are making sweet love right now?" I bit my lip to hold in my laugh. I heard a huge sigh.

"How is that even important and how do you know about that?" I snickered and answered his second question.

"I'm a bookworm, I know these things." I told him already closing my eyes.

"Never expected you be one."

"Idiot." I whispered.

"Hey wh-"

"Good night." My eyes fluttered closed and I was soon in a world of dream.

_Dream_

I found myself watching a T.V with this girl talking with everyone and having fun. I felt so sad inside, I envied her. I rolled myself up into a ball and fell to the side not wanting to see her anymore. I clenched my eyes shut not wanting to cry-wanting this to be over already.

"_Why do you keep silent and hide it all?"_ I'm not hiding it I just don't-

"_Are you afraid of being laughed at?" _No that's not it! It's just that I, I-

"_So you don't want to see anyone, is that really what you want?" _No, no that's completely the opposite. I clenched my eyes shut tight, afraid of seeing who it is.

"_Why do you keep many things in your chest, do you want to be loved?"_ I don't know, I just want to be heard. I just want, I just want-

"_You're drowning in a sea of confusion, you're in pain and can't even breathe there. Now you want to hear someone's voice."_ I opened my eyes and saw that the T.V had been turned off and sat up.

"_No one will understand you if you don't speak out, just thinking it will never reach anyone."_ I heard someone whispering in my ear. I turned my head to see who it was but found that it was-

_Dream End_

I bolted up out of the blankets and couldn't remember what had happened. Turning to my right I saw that Glenn had already awoken and probably went to go help outside. I tore the blankets off from my body and saw that my sweater had been replaced with a new jacket, shirt, and pants. A note was placed on top and read what was written.

_Leave your clothes here, we'll come to collect and wash them for you._

I sighed and took a look at the clothes. Dark blue jeans like the ones I had on, blue shirt, and this time a white sweater with…ears. Panda ears. I didn't want to admit it but it was really cute. Once I had gotten dressed, I left my clothes in a neat pile where the not had been and slid on the sweater. I left the hood off though. I ran my fingers through my hair and was thankful that nothing was tangled. I noticed my gun was missing too, probably Glenn had it. I zipped opened the tent and walked up towards Glenn and Rick who were watching the red challenger get taken apart.

"What's happening?" They jumped slightly when they heard my voice. I stood in-between them, while the car got stripped clean.

"My car, it's dying." I nodded looking at it.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick patted Glenn on the back to console him and walked off somewhere.

"Yeah and when we do, I'll sleep in it again." I smiled nodding my head.

"Like I'll let you next time." I smirked at his response.

"Fine, maybe we won't get to steal another one." He groaned at the hood finally being taken off. I was going to say something else when a scream had suddenly came from in the trees. I ran towards it because I heard Carl and followed behind Glenn. When I reached Carl, he was with Sophia, Jaqui, and his mom.

"Is everything alright? No one's hurt?" I questioned them.

"No but that scene startled us." Jaqui told me. I nodded and ran to where she pointed too. Everyone was already there and the scene was just disgusting. A Walker was chomping on this poor deer and everyone just stood by watching. They finally made a move and began beating it to bits until Dale decapitated it. I took a step back when it rolled towards me a bit.

"That's the first one we had up here; they never come this far up the mountain." Dale had commented.

"They're running out of food in the city, that's what?" Jim stated while wiping his face.

"They're hungry." I said, watching the walker gnaw its teeth at everyone. A twig snapping directed everyone's attention towards the forest. The group pointed their weapons towards the sound and everyone sighed in relief when some guy had come out cursing.

"Son of a bitch, that's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless proxy bastard!" He kicked the dead walker's body harder and harder each time. I noticed how everyone went quiet once he came out.

"Calm down son, that's not helping." Except for Dale.

"What do you know about it old man, why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond"?" He got in Dale's face and I have to admit, it angered me a little but I wouldn't say anything this time round'. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." Now I really didn't want to eat deer meat, even though I never had it before.

"What do you think, do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He asked Shane who had his gun up on his shoulders.

"I would not risk that." He replied.

"That's a damn shame, I got us some squirrel-about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." I eyed the dead squirrels on him and blanched at the sight. Suddenly, the head began biting at the air.

"Come on people. What the hell?" He questioned the group as he stuck an arrow through its eye. Once it stopped moving, he got his arrow. "Don't y'all know nothin'?" Not wanting to be here any while longer, I began walking back towards the camp with everyone. He started calling for Merle and that's when I realized, this was his brother. I stopped in my tracks once I realized that. I turned around and saw Shane jogging up to him.

"Daryl just up slow a bit, I need to talk to you." Shane walked up to him and I noticed Glenn was beside me. I had my hands at my side awaiting his reaction and how he'll take the news. He stopped and looked at Shane.

"About what?" He asked. Shane continued on and stood in front of him

"About Merle, there was a problem in Atlanta" He started. Daryl became awfully quiet.

"He dead?"

"We're not sure." Shane told him.

"He either is or he ain't!" He yelled at Shane. I stood my ground and watched as he got riled up. I mean, I know he hit me but it's his brother. Everything was a mistake, we were just caught up the moment and then that had happened. I clenched my arm

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick joined in.

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, got something you wanna tell me?" I watched the scene unfold.

"Your brother was a danger to us all so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked up to a piece of metal. He's still there." Oh no this isn't going to turn out good. I saw T-Dog coming back with loads of log.

"Hold on, let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you let him there?!" He shouted at Rick.

"Yeah." The squirrels that we're on his shoulder were thrown at Rick who ducked, and Shane pushed Daryl to the ground. He pulled out a knife on them. Since I was unarmed and they were two cops, I felt this was an unnecessary fight to join. That didn't mean I wasn't worried. After a few seconds, Shane had Daryl in a chokehold. Rick tried explaining to Daryl about why he did what he had to do.

"It's not Rick's fault, I had the key and I dropped it." T-Dog commented.

"You couldn't pick it up?"

"I dropped it in a drain."

"Supposed to make me feel better it don't." More talking ensued and Lori's comment made me gulp.

"He'll show you, ain't that right?" Rick looked around and nodded.

"I'm going back."

An hour later, I was standing with Glenn while Rick was talking with Shane.

"Glenn?" I asked him with my hands in my pocket.

"Yeah?"

"Where's my gun?" I turned my head and saw him handling something on his hip. It was my boy.

"Here." He said. "I really didn't feel comfortable to leave this in the tent while you were sleeping so I had it with me." I took from his hands and adjusted it onto mine.

"Thanks, I'm glad you kept it safe." I smiled at him. He stared at me for a while and peeled of the bandage. I touched my cheek wondering why.

"It's just a small bruise now, nothing serious." I nodded and gave him another smile.

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori questioned Rick who had approached the group. He took a deep breathe before turning to Glenn.

"Oh come on." He groaned, already tired from yesterday.

"You know the way you've been there before. In and out no problem, you said so yourself." Glenn removed his cap and combed his fingers through his hair before placing it back on. "It's not fair of me to ask –I know that- but I'd feel a lot better if you came along, I know she would too." He glanced at Lori.

"That's just great now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane commented looking a bit annoyed. I sighed at his reaction, I mean Rick said so himself. That's no way for someone to die. I was thinking of volunteering but I don't think anyone would approve and I was still a bit shaken up from our last visit to Atlanta.

"Four." I turned my head to see T-Dog.

"Tch, my day just gets better and better don't it?" Daryl commented, ungrateful for the help.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker-ass?" He asked him.

"Why you?"

"You wouldn't even begin to understand, you don't speak my language." T-Dog told him.

"It's not just four." Started Shane. "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on you saw that walker, it was here. It was in camp. They're movin' out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we got. We need 'em here, we need 'em to protect camp." Shane, why don't you understand that Rick is trying to own up to what he had done? I sighed and Glenn just rubbed my head even though I should be comforting him. Rick began talking to Shane about the bag of guns that we had lost in Atlanta.

"Glenn, get my bag for me will ya'?" He nodded at my request.

"Sure will. What did you have in there anyways?"

"DS, fruits, though probably rotten by now." I giggled. "To be honest, I just need my games." He nodded in understanding.

"You went through hell to find us, you just got here, you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori's question brought me out of my imagination.

"Dad, I-I don't want you to go." I looked at Carl feeling awfully bad for him. He just got his dad back and now, and now this?

"To hell what the guns, Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives even with guns thrown in." Rick took some steps towards her. "Tell me, make me understand."

"To a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in I'd die." Oh I remember now, he had told me about a man and his son. "It's because I of them that I found Rinella," He turned to stare at Carl for a bit. "If I hadn't done that, she could've died. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta they'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn em'."

"What's stopping you?" She questioned him.

"The walkie talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer." I felt the rubbing on my head still going.

"These are our walkies?" Shane questioned.

"So use the CB what's wrong with that?" Andrea asked Shane.

"The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap-date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth. Not even the scanners in our cars." Shane explained to her.

"I need that bag." He told Lori before walking to talk to his son Carl. "Okay?" Carl seemed to understand and nodded. I walked around for a bit while everyone was working. I stood with Glenn out side the van while T-Dog and Rick were asking Dale for something. I had my brows furrowed, my eyes closed, and to top it all off; had my arms folded across my chest.

"Something wrong?" Glenn questioned me. I opened an eye and stared at him.

"Yes something is wrong." I did a 180 and stood in front of him. "You, Rick, T-Dog, and yes, Daryl better make it back alive. I don't want Carl feeling sad and," I gulped. "For me having no one to talk to." I mumbled the last part and felt my cheeks get hot. I felt my hood being thrown on and touched it, feeling the ears.

"Yeah, yeah we will. Stop worrying will ya'?" I ignored him and went back to feeling the ears. Cu-cute. I jumped when the horn of the car was blown.

"I guess that's my cue, we'll make it back I promise." I nodded as I watched him leave to hop into the cube van. Sighing, I turned back to the camp and began walking towards it before I felt a hand on my head. I turned around and saw it was Rick.

"You take care of Carl for me, make sure he's okay." I nodded at his request, of course I will. "Let me see your gun, I managed to get these from the station, forgot I had em'." I nodded and handed it to him. He reloaded it and put it back in its place. "There now help everyone protect the camp while we're gone. I'll be back." Those were his final words before he had gotten up and started walking towards the van. _You better,_ I thought. I gave a small wave as it drove off. Feeling a bit drowsy, I walked back towards the tent and laid down thinking about everything that had happened so far. I smiled when I remembered how I met everyone.

"Rinella, Shane told me to ask you if you wanted to catch frogs with us?" I heard Carl say. I jumped and turned towards him.

"Sure, sounds like fun." He smiled and began I'll walk towards the quarry.

Once we reached the place, I rested on a nearby rock watching as Shane tried to lure the frogs towards Carl. I smiled at how much fun they were having and then Lori showed up.

"Carl, Rinella would you mind returning to camp please?" Carl nodded sadly and walked back sadly.

"No it's okay I'll go see what Andrea and them are doing." I smiled at her and jumped off the rock. Once I got close enough, Amy motioned me over.

"Hey Rinella, look what I found." She pulled out a hair tie from her pocket. Oh no my hair, it's going to be ponytail-ed!

"Would you mind sitting down here?" I shook my head and sat down where she had told me to. She began finger combing my hair and tied my hair into a pony tail on the right side of my head. A few of my bangs still covered my face but all in all I think it looked good.

"Thank god you're hair is straight. It would've taken longer if it weren't." She laughed.

"Haha, well it tends to do that." I laughed combing my new ponytail. Andrea, Carol, and Jaqui soon joined in on the laughter.

"What's so funny?" A gruff man's voice had said. I turned my head only to see Ed.

"Just doing laundry Ed." Andrea told him. I noticed how everyone had gotten so quiet and now really wanting to be the cause of anything, I stayed quiet as well. He started walking towards Carol and stood behind her. Andrea had spoken up.

"Problem Ed?"

"Nothing that concerns you." He took out the cigarette from his mouth. I waved the smoke from my face even though it was just a little. "You best be doing your work, this ain't no comedy club." He finished. Everyone turned towards the water, not really wanting to talk to him or even make eye contact. Though I was doing anything and just sat on a rock with Amy.

"He's still there." I whispered. Andrea must've heard me and got up.

"I'll tell you what, you don't like how your laundries done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself, here." She threw the rag at his chest, only for it to be thrown back.

"That ain't my job missy." I got up with Amy and stood on Andrea's right side.

"Andrea don't." Amy told her.

"What is your job Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?" I was about to share my six sense but Amy had put her arm around my shoulder holding me close to her side.

"It's not listening to some uppity smart mouth bitch. I'll tell you that." Ed told her. "Come on let's go." He motioned towards Carol who obviously looked shaken up. I held on to Amy's hand, on my shoulder.

"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you Ed." Andrea told him.

"Actually it's none of your business, come on now you heard me." He kept on motioning Carol over, to which she complied.

"Carol don't you-"

"Please it doesn't matter." She whispered to Andrea.

"Don't think I won't knock you on your ass alright?" Ed warns Andrea. "Now you come on now." Man, this is the 3rd jerk I need to deal with. "Or you gonna regret it later."

"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed?" Jaqui commented. Poor Carol, damn Ed. He began laughing. What the heck was there to laugh about? "Yeah we've seen them."

"Stay out of th- now come on!" He yelled at Carol. "This ain't none of y'all business. Don't keep sprouting bull here okay? Now I am done talking, come on." He grabbed Carol's arm and tried to drag her away while everyone started pulling her back, me too.

"Carol, don't go." I tried telling her but she just shook her head.

"You don't tell me what, I tell you!" Ed slapped her right across the face and Andrea punched his chest.

"You asshole!" I was with Amy trying to console Carol by rubbing her back.

"Let go of me!" I lifted my head and saw Shane throw him to the ground. He began pummeling his face in. When his face had gotten all bloody, that's when everyone started telling him to stop. He whispered something to Ed and got off him but kicked him in the ribs. Carol ran towards her husband and we stood by watching as Shane walked past us. I touched my forehead because I felt this aching pain start pounding my head. I wobbled a bit and I guess they noticed.

"Rinella what's wrong?" Amy asked me. I don't know.

"No-nothing's wrong it's just, I need to sit do-" I fell down in a crumbled heap on the floor. With my eyelids wanting to close, the only things I saw were shoes before I blacked out.

**No One's POV**

In a field off in the campsite, a man is furiously digging holes. Dale tried to question him but gets no answer.

"Drink some water at least." He lifted up the canteen but the man just stared and went back to his work. More people later approached the scene to see what was wrong. One of the people was Shane.

"Hey Jim, why don't you hold up alright keep it safe a little please?" He asked Jim.

"What do you want?"

"I was just a little concern is all?"

"Dale said you've been out here for hours." Morales joins in. Lori soon intervened once Jim didn't want to listen to anyone.

"You're scaring everyone. You're scaring my son and Carol's daughter."

"There's nothing to be scared of. Why don't you all go off and leave me alone." He told the group. Shane kept on ordering him to leave the shovel.

"If I don't...then what?" Jim challenges him. "Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't'cha." He swings the shovel at Shane, who tackles him. Jim begins to cry over the death of his wife and two sons. "The only real reason I got away," Jim tells the horrified group, "is 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family." Everyone became quiet not really knowing what to say. Not knowing what else to do, they tied Jim to a tree located in the camp.

"Sorry if I scared your boy, your little girl." He apologized to Lori and Carol.

"You had sunstroke, nobody's blaming you." Lori told him.

"You're not scared now are you?" He asked Sophia.

"No sir." He became quiet after that, and then Dale spoke up.

"Do you know why you were digging?" He questioned him.

"I had a reason don't remember." Jim says. "Something I dreamt." He tells Carl that the boy was in his dream, and that his dad was there, as well. "You were worried about him," Jim tells Carl. "Can't remember the rest." He asks Carl if he's worried about his dad — Carl is, replies back by saying, "He's not back yet." Lori tries to end the conversation but Jim continues. "That man, he's tough as nails. Ain't nothin' gonna stop him gettin' back here to you and your momma, I promise you that." Lori smiled at his words and Shane wanting to distract the kids, took them along with him asking if they wanted to clean fish. Carol and Dale following right after them. Lori approaches Jim once everyone is gone.

"You keep your boy close, that lil' girl too. You don't ever let them out of your sight." He ominously tells her. She left him to himself and went to Glenn's tent, where Rinella was resting. She rubs the girl's head and touches her forehead.

"No fever, probably nothing." She whispers before leaving some water by her side and going off somewhere. Everyone was doing different things like Dale and Andrea talking in the van, Shane talking to Jim, Carol and Sophia with her father, and Rinella still sound asleep.

**Rinella's POV**

When I woke up I smelled something delicious. Looking to my left I found that someone had left some food; fish on a plate. Some water was here as well. Feeling my stomach, I realized that I hadn't eaten anything this whole day so I just dug right in. I heard some rustling near by and waited for a while trying to know who it was. Whoever the person is, if they're trying to scare me they're failing. Cautiously, I began unzipping the tent. I was even sweating a bit. H'n maybe this person isn't as bad as I thought; they're actually making me feel nervous. Once the zipper was unzipped, I was face to face with a walker. Not wasting anytime I quickly moved to the side when it had lunged at me. Why are they here how?! I tried scrambling out of the tent only to be pulled back by my ankle. Turning over I hastily reached for my gun, only to find an empty space.

"What the hell is going on, I ain't dying like this." I didn't want to scream in fear of more walkers coming and finally killing me, defenseless. I kicked it in the face, hard and watched it's head roughly turn to the side. _It's time to run now!_

"I know that!" I ran out of the tent only to find the camp in complete disarray. I found Carl and Lori huddled in a little ball with Shane shooting at walkers. I skid to a halt in front of them.

"Carl, Lori where's my gun?" I asked them only to see Lori's wide eyes and Carl with an unsure face.

"I don't know."

"You had a gun this whole time?" Lori asked me. Well of course I did. I didn't want to die in this world you know?

"Shane where's my gun?" I asked him already annoyed with everything. I looked at his hip and saw it resting in his belt holster.

"You're a little girl," He started shooting down some walkers. "You don't know how to shoot." He finished. Oh, he's crossed the line, I tore it from his belt.

"Watch me." I glared at him and ran towards, AMY!

"AMY!" I yelled to her and shot the walker who was chomping on her neck. I stopped by Andrea and held her hand as we ran towards Amy. I stood up while Andrea was trying to stop the blood from her neck. I shot the walker that managed to walk up behind me and covered Andrea. More walkers were coming towards us from all directions; I didn't have enough bullets for all of them. Trying to fend off the closest ones, I mentally screamed. Rick, Glenn, where are you! Gun shots drew me away from my thinking and looked on ahead at where Rick, Glenn, Daryl, and T-Dog were shooting the remaining walkers. I watched as Carl ran tearfully into Rick's arms. Not knowing what to do, I hugged Andrea and rubbed her back before running off to Glenn. He was catching his breath, scared because of all the walkers I assume.

"Glenn they're gone now, it's alright." I rubbed his back as he had a tight hold on his shotgun. I looked back towards Amy and Andrea only to see that she had gone still. I covered my eyes not wanting to look any longer, in fear of crying. Glenn covered my eyes as well. That's when Jim began talking.

"I remember my dream now. Why I dug the holes." I clenched my eyes shut tighter not wanting to look at the dead bodies. Of the people I once knew. One thought only seemed to run through my head, one thought.

_Is anywhere safe anymore?_

**Author's Note**

Wow, that was a long chapter. I remember I saw a picture of Sophia in the comics and she had a hoodie with cat ears but this time I made it panda ears. Sorry I didn't keep what I said but I'll be typing up the next chapter right away and I might skip one episode and move straight onto the CDC. My dislike for Shane and Lori is evident in here. Or at least I think so. Well, the inspirational song I had chosen has lyrics that are unrecognizable because Yuki made up her own language. So I chose it because of everything that's happening to Rinella. It's a really sad theme and in the anime it always plays when something tragic is happening. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the last one should be up tonight. Sorry for any mistakes and I think there were a lot. Oh and did I mention that I'm going to be drawing Rinella with her new hairstyle?

Inspirational song - Sis Puella Magica!

Artist/composer - Yuki Kajiura


	8. Teach Me How

**How's everyone tonight? Man, the mid-season finale was just, crazy! This one will probably be a combination of two episodes, like the last chapter. Oh, I'm actually typing this chapter before the mid season but I know this will be uploaded way past it. Oh and the drawings that I promised well, the first two I drew them in 5 mins so they don't count and I hope you enjoy this chapter! I do not own The Walking Dead!**

**No-One's POV**

The next morning after the massacre at camp, Rick stares at the sunrise over the city known as Atlanta as he tries to reach Morgan on the walkie-talkie for the first time. "Atlanta isn't what we thought," he warns. "It belongs to the dead now." He tells Morgan to come find him, but to be careful, sharing that they were attacked at camp. Telling Morgan to take care of his boy, Rick signs off and promises he'll try him again tomorrow at dawn.

**Rinella's POV**

With my head resting on my knee caps, I watched as Glenn, T-Dog, and Daryl threw bodies into a blazing fire. I was motionless. My hands were dirty, my sweater had gotten blood on it, and everything just seemed like a dream. Like a horrible dream that I'll never wake up from. I turned my head when I heard twigs snapping. I saw Rick approach Andrea and kneel down to talk to her. She pulled out a gun on him and he just backs off.

"Hey, you okay?" Glenn asked me. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't but I couldn't. It was as if I didn't have a voice anymore. As if it had died along with everyone else. He dropped something by my side and I saw it was my bag.

"Hey we got some work to do!" Daryl yelled.

"If you need to talk to anyone, just say the word." I heard his footsteps get softer and softer till I couldn't hear them anymore. Once he left, I slid my pack on. This won't be the last time, I need to get used to it.

**Rick's POV**

"Do any of you know how Rinella's doing?" I looked behind me and saw her sitting there.

"She's been like that for the past few hours or so. Never wanting to move and even ignored Glenn." Lori told me. For the past hours? Something's definitely wrong; it's not like her to be in the same spot for more than 5 minutes.

"I'm a go talk to her, see what's bothering her."

"You sure? You remember what Andrea did to you? This one ain't stupid, hell she even has a temper." Shane tried warning me.

"I know she ain't and I know she does." I walked towards her and kneeled down to stare at her face. She had black irises under her eyes and looked as if she hadn't slept.

"What's wrong, Lori told me that you've been here unmoving for the past hours." She merely blinked at my question not even uttering a sound.

"Rinella, what's bothering you? I can't help if you don't tell me." She only shook her head and reached for her gun. Instinctively, I grabbed her wrist and held her right shoulder. "You don't know what you're doing."

"Yes I do. Please just, let me go," She started softly. "Please." I let her wrist go but still had a tight hold on her shoulder. She handed the weapon to me and left her holster on. I grabbed it and held it in my hand.

"What why?"

"Because I, I just don't know what to do with it anymore!" She yelled to me. I looked around and noticed that heads had turned. She punched the dirt, keeping her head down. "For a minute I, I thought about doing." She began hiccupping and that's when I realized she was crying. I set the gun down and embraced her.

"It's okay, you thought about it but you didn't. That's what matters." I tried to soothe her. Her sobbing had continued for a few minutes before she calmed herself down.

"Rick?" She mumbled.

"What is it?"

"It's hot." She wriggled out of my arms and rested her head on her knees. "I'm better now, you don't have to worry anymore." Her eyes were staring at the ground.

"Alright, ya sure?" I showed her what she had given me. She looked up and nodded. "Get some sleep. It's necessary these days." I pat her head and went off to talk to Shane and Lori.

**Rinella's POV**

Sighing I decided to lean back a bit and watch the blue sky for awhile.

"What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there!" I heard Glenn's voice. I turned my head to see that Daryl and Morales had dragged some of the camps people towards the fire.

"What's the difference?" Questioned Daryl, "They're all infected." Tch, some people. I got up too quickly and wobbled a bit. I shook my head and kept my balance, beginning to walk towards them.

"It doesn't matter if they're infected," I started with my hand rubbing my arm and my head looking off to the side. "These were people we once knew, and they deserve to be buried instead of treating them like those walkers." I glared at Daryl.

"Tch, and who are you?" He asked with a ruff voice.

"Rinella, the one who Glenn saved." I slid that in on purpose to try to make Glenn feel better.

"Yeah well, I don't need to be lectured by a lil' girl." He spat at me. I finger combed my ponytail and walked past him, taking a seat by Glenn's legs.

"Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them!" Glenn yelled at Morales and Daryl, seeming awfully distressed. I pulled his pants leg which made him look down at me. I gave him a nod once he realized what just happened. "We bury them, understand?" He managed to say more calmly. They dragged the bodies away silently, away from the fire where the walkers were being burned. Glenn sighed once they had left. I pulled on his pants leg again. He stared down at me and was about to open his mouth before I stopped him.

"Did you know that every time you sigh, a little bit of happiness escapes?" I asked him. He half smiled at my words before, we heard Jaqui.

"A walker bit Jim." My eyes shifted to everyone who had started gathering around the two of them. Not wanting to feel left out, I got up as well. I dusted my pants off before walking to the now formed crowd. Glenn was trailing behind me until we reached Jim.

"Show it to us." Daryl ordered, holding up a pick axe. Jim didn't listen and picked up a nearby shovel. Turning circles with it, looking at everyone as if he was afraid. I twirled in the dirt so I was hiding behind Glenn because I really didn't want to be hit with a shovel. I watched as T-Dog sneaked up behind Jim and had his arms locked.

"I'm okay!" He pleaded but once Daryl lifted his shirt, it was lost hope. The bite was small and really just looked like a dog bite. From afar that is. For such a little bite to take away a human life, it was depressing. Looking at Jim's face, I knew how scared he was. How he didn't want to become one of them. "I'm okay…I'm okay." I turned away not wanting to see his hopeless face anymore. I left the scene to go find Carl and hopefully he hadn't found out about it yet.

"Carl, Carl?" I whispered around the tents that were scattered everywhere. I heard something moving around in a tent next to me. Turning my head I waited for whoever it was to come out. I inched my face closer to it waiting for the person to unzip it. The tent was unzipping and I sat still.

"Hello?" I fell forward when I heard a voice behind me. I lifted my face up to turn around.

"Boo!" But then I ended up falling backwards. I was staring up at the trees for a while before I realized someone was calling my name.

"Ella, Ella? Rinella?" My eyes shifted to the right and it was Carl who was calling me. Shifting my eyes to the left, I noticed that it was Carol's daughter. I bounced up forward which must've freaked them out because they to fell. It was just too funny so before I knew it, I began laughing. Even though we were covered in dirt, dirt and blood for me at least, we were still laughing.

"I was thinking of playing with Carl but now since you're here," I looked at Sophia who just seemed a little on edge. "Why don't I introduce myself?" I did a fake cough into my fist and fluffed out my sweater. "The name's Rinella but I think you already knew that by now." I rubbed the back of my head with a crooked smile on my face. "How bout' you?" I asked her with a hint of excitement in my voice.

"Sophia." She told me a bit shyly, if I may add.

"Well Sophia, how would you like to be apart of mine and Carl's awesome trio? You see, I've never really had a girl as a friend before, and Carl was the only who ever talked to me back at school and you can't have a trio with two people so," I noticed I was rambling. "Well if Carl agrees to it." I turned my head towards him. He put his hand beneath his chin.

"Well," He left us waiting for his answer. "Sure why not!" My face brightened up and I turned to Sophia to see her reaction. Though she wasn't as excited as Carl and me, her smile had widened.

"Great. You see it's because I," I stopped myself before continuing. "Have any of you ever used a DS before?" They shook their heads. "Oh well, check this out." I pulled out the red and black DS and turned it on. "How bout you both play a game?"

"What kind of game?" Sophia asked me. I rummaged through my pack a bit before remembering about my bat. Well, the other person probably needed it more. The fruits were gone too. _They probably needed that as well. _I massaged my forehead trying to think of what game they could play.

"Carl, would you mind looking in the two empty slots and telling me what games they are?" He popped the game out of one of the slots and showed it to me.

"Mario?" I thought for a while trying to remember what games it had. "Yeah you both could play two players." I set up the game for them and let Sophia go first. "Ladies um, young girls first." I handed it to her and moved from my spot on the floor to let Carl sit next to her. "The game explains itself so I don't need to be here."

"Wait, you're not gonna play with us?" I waved my hands as an apology to the both of them.

"I'm sorry but I need to go check on someone. I'll be back though." They nodded at me and went back to playing. I couldn't help but notice that their eyes seemed sad. I looked at my sweater and saw that the blood was already turning black.

"I need to wash this off." I didn't know which way the lake was so I walked around through the camp looking for Glenn. I spotted him a few ways out looking off into the distance. Sneaking up behind him I poked his side. He squiggled before turning around.

"What was that for? I could've died, you saw me standing on practically, a ledge here!" He pointed towards the ground but I really wasn't paying attention. I tugged on his shirt.

"Hey, I need-don't know where the lake is would you mind directing me to it?" I asked him. Whew, that was a close one. Need psh, I don't need help.

"Alright but wh-"

"Reasons." I started pushing him forward.

"I'm walking you know? There's no need for the pushing." He told me. I put my hands in my pockets. Throughout the whole "journey" we were silent. Once we reached the lake, I ran full speed towards the water and tripped which caused me to fall in. Face first. I heard Glenn start laughing and dragged myself onto the dirt. He sat on a rock beside me.

"Are you always this," He started. I stared at him beginning to grasp the ends of my sweater. "Weird?" He sounded very cautious when asking me that. I took off my ponytail, _the one that Amy made _and kept the hair tie on my wrist. I tore off my sweater and shoved it in the water.

"No. Would it surprise you if I told you that I never spent my days outside of a library?" He looked at me questioningly. I gave him a smug smile while rubbing the sweater on those things that I saw Andrea and them use.

"Well now I can. You don't even know how to wash clothes." I blushed at his comment, embarrassed that my cleaning skills weren't even skills. He came over and scrubbed them off for me.

"Well I'm sorry I never learned. My life was hell before this." I sighed with a sad smile on my face. I felt a hand on my head and my sweater laid out on my lap.

"Did you know that every time you sigh, a little bit of happiness escapes?" I smiled at that. I smacked his hand away playfully and ran past him back to camp.

"No, and did you know that the wind dries off wet clothes?" I smiled and ran in a circle with my sweater gliding above my head.

"What a weird kid."

**Burial **

I stood alongside Carl and Sophia when they were burying the bodies. Carl had given me my pack and said that they DS hasn't died yet. Looking past Lori, I saw that Daryl and Rick were discussing something.

"Well, that's a problem." Lori stated. "We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves, we need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." Everyone became quiet once she had said that. I watched as Daryl, Rick, Shane, and Glenn pulled bodies off the truck and put them in their graves. I've never been to a funeral before but is this how it feels like? I looked around and saw that all the kids had their parents. While mine, well they're gone. They were free of this cruel world while I'm here along with everyone else, still fighting to survive. That's when I felt someone's hand on my head. I blinked a few times before looking up at the person. It was Rick and Carl had scooted up a bit too. Lori behind him and Rick behind me. I guess this is my family now. Looking at the remaining bodies, there was only one left and that was Amy.

**Jim**

Jim is hallucinating inside the RV, his bite bleeding as he sees terrifying visions of the dead. "No, no, no, no not now." An ill Jim smacks himself trying to rid all the thoughts of walkers coming at him. He looks at his bandage only to see that blood had soaked through.

**Camp**

Everyone began walking back after the burial. Andrea was with Dale and I was still with Rick and them. I noticed Carl had stopped walking so we all stopped as well.

"Are we safe now, Dad?" Carl asks Rick. "Now that, we're together?" I looked at Rick but saw that he couldn't answer.

"He won't leave again." I answered for him. Rick turned to me and gave me a nod as thanks.

"I promise." He held on to Carl's face. "Now, give me a chance to discuss some things with your mom okay?" I rubbed Carl's back and he nodded, walking off with me back to camp. I didn't want to say a word since he was crying so we stayed silent the rest of the way back. Once we had reached the camp, we took a seat down on car seats. I noticed Carl was still crying so with no other option, I decided to return the favor. I embraced him.

The sun was setting by the time Rick, Dale, and Shane had come back from perimeter sweeping. I sat in a chair next to Andrea who had dozed off and being the weird kid that I am, turned upside down in the lawn chair and started timing myself.

"I've uh-I've been thinkin' about Rick's plan to go to the CDC." Shane began. "Now look, there are no-there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the mornin' okay?" Everyone was silent again and I lost track of the seconds-minutes I was counting in my head. I was beginning to doze off again but I really wanted to be the last one to leave. Andrea was the first to go, then Morales and his family, followed by T-Dog soon after, Carol, Sophia, and Carl and Lori. I didn't know where Jaqui was and Shane went to keep watch with Dale so it was just Rick, Glenn, and me. Daryl was probably off hunting like always. I wiggled in my chair and flipped myself over. Thankfully I didn't fall out of it.

"You sure you're not tired Rinella?" I looked at Rick and blinked slowly.

"What? No." I waved him off but my body betrayed me and I yawned.

"What are you doing? Waiting for us or somethin'?" Yes, I wanted to say to Glenn but I stayed quiet and folded my arms. 5 minutes seemed to pass and they hadn't moved an inch. Getting frustrated I abruptly stood up.

"Fine, you win!" I yelled effortlessly at them. They seemed confused but I just walked towards Glenn's tent rambling about trees and what not.

**Glenn's POV**

"Rick? Rinella told me something today that I just couldn't, really ignore."

"What was it?" I gulped not really sure if I should tell him this.

"She said her life was a living hell and that she had spent more of her time in a library rather than outside?" He leaned back took a deep breath.

"I don't want to agree but she was telling the truth." I leaned forward in my seat waiting for him to continue. "You see, she had problems with her parents. That actually led to me meeting her." His eyes were kept on the extinguishing flames. "The station had gotten a call one day about a missing child and since it was pretty late, I took the job." I nodded my head. She was the missing child?

"So she was-"

"At the library." He finished the sentence for me. "Even after we searched parks, stations, and whatnot, we had no clue as to where she was. The library was the least expected place." He was getting tired, I could tell just from the dark irises beneath his eyes. "Once we found her, she listened to us and told us where she had lived. We took her home and to anyone else, it would've just looked like a happy going family. Hell, it even managed to fool me."

"Rick, I think you should get some rest." I didn't know what I was doing. I really wanted to hear the rest of what happened but it felt…wrong for some reason. He didn't seem to disagree and bid me a good night. I walked to my tent and found that she was completely taking up the whole area. Her body was sprawled about and the blankets were kicked at her feet. I wiped my face with my hands before shifting her so she stayed on her original side. Once I hit the pillows, I knocked out.

**Rinella's POV**

I woke up to someone shaking me.

"Stop it." I drawled out still half asleep. I curled into the blankets more wanting to conserve the heat. The shaking continued so I kicked my foot out. I rubbed my eyes when I noticed what I done.

"Ow." I turned over to see what happened, only to find Glenn holding his side. My pupils were probably small and my hair was in disarray. In short, I looked like a mess.

"We need to go." Was all I heard before blocking out the noises and helping him pack. We managed to roll everything up and were on our way to the awaiting cars. I slid my hood on in order to hide my messed up hair. Once we reached everyone, that's when I saw that Morales wasn't even ready at all. I stood by the RV waiting for whatever was going to happen, happen.

"We're uh, we're not going." He said. I looked at him and his kids. The kids had seemed awfully sad. I turned my head a bit more and saw that Carl and Sophia felt the same way.

"We have family in Birmingham." Morales's wife answered. "We want to be with our people."

"You go on your own you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane tried to prevent them from leaving.

"Well take the chance." Said Morales, "I gotta do what's best for my family." Yeah protect your family and cherish them as long as you can.

"You sure?" Rick asked him.

"We talked about it. We're sure."

Rick nodded and both him and Shane gave him a gun and half a box of bullets before they all came over to hug everyone. Though I didn't know them for long, I hugged the kids.

"Channel forty if you change your minds. Alright?" Rick told them. Morales nodded and got his family into the vehicle before driving off. I walked into the RV and sat on the couch in the back. My head was propped up by my hand as I gazed out at the passing scenery.

"Pure grass." I whispered. Jaqui was helping Jim so I often heard the little mutterings and moans of agony. I was beginning to fall asleep when a abrupt stop was made. I caught myself before falling forward. Like the last time. While everyone was boarding off the RV, I stayed inside with Jaqui to make sure that if Jim…turned, I would be here to help her. Jim's groans had gotten louder and Jaqui bolted out of the RV to alert everyone I presume.

"Is the pain," I started not sure how I should say this. "Really that painful?" I gulped waiting for his reply.

"It burns like a thousand suns. Why are you here anyway? I expected you to be traveling in another vehicle instead of being with a time bomb like me." I didn't have any answer for Jim. I guess I was just here so he didn't feel lonely I suppose.

"I don't know. You're gonna need to make a decision though." I heard footsteps and saw that Rick had boarded the RV.

"We'll be back on the road soon." Rick told him.

"Oh no. My bones are like glass. Every little bump – god this ride's killing me. Leave me here," Jim says. "I'm done." I bit my lip not wanting to turn my head and yell at him for saying that. "Just leave me," Stop saying that. I clenched my fist because of his words. We were almost at the CDC. "I want to be with my family." I felt my fists unclench at his words. Family, that was always the word that got to me.

" They're all dead. I don't think you know what you're asking. The fever, you've been delirious as often as not." Rick tried to get him to stay but I think Jim's words-request were final.

"I know, don't you think I know." He asked Rick. "I'm clear now, In five minutes I may not be. Rick, I know what I'm asking-I want this."

"Respect a dying man's wishes. If that's what he wants then so be it." I found myself forcing the words out of my mouth. It felt as if I was assisting a murder. This painful, this enclosed feeling in my chest.

"It's my decision, wish, not your failure."

Once Rick and Shane laid him against the tree, everyone stood around him. Shane tried to persuade him once more to keep going with us but it was to no avail. Not wanting to see anymore of Jim's beat up form, I shuffled behind Glenn and watched from his side. He didn't seem to question it though I think he might've gotten used to it. I watched as everyone went up to say their final good byes. Jaqui gave him a kiss on the cheek, Dale thanked him, Rick, Shane, and then we went our own way. I gave him one last glance before boarding the RV. His eyes were already closed by then.

**Elsewhere**

A man in a bio-hazard suit and with classical music playing passes through an airlock into a laboratory. He opens a tissue sample labeled TS-19 and begins an experiment. He takes a little nap inside his safety suit while waiting for the sample to be ready.

Reaching for a beaker, he accidentally knocks over a type of fluid on the tissue sample inside a petri dish. An alarm sounds as a voice alerts the man –Jenner- to toxic quality air, and he runs to a decontamination chamber and disrobes. From the safety of the airlock, Jenner watches sadly as the lab and all his experiments are engulfed in flames-an automatic safety protocol.

Later, a drunken Jenner speaks into a video monitor. "The TS-19 samples are gone. The tragedy of their loss cannot be overstated," he mourns, musing that he's sure there's no one listening on the other end of his transmission anymore, which saves him embarrassment because he might kill himself in the morning.

**Rinella's POV**

Little while later, we al stepped out of vehicles only for me wanting to rush back in. Dead bodies littered the streets with flies and probably maggots. I covered my nose and mouth with the sleeves of my sweater.

"Come on now , everybody stay quiet." Shane whispered to all of us. You're the only one making noise I wanted to say to him but ended up coughing instead. Andrea who was behind me, pat my back and had her hand on it to lead me across the street. Thankfully she did because I think I might've tripped over one. The stench was just so bad that it made my eyes burn. I coughed some more into my sleeve and held onto Andrea's shirt as I heard buzzing sounds. We finally reached a set of steel shutters and Rick banged on them.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog said. I got closer to Andrea when he said that.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick questioned him. Off to my left I noticed walkers beginning to reanimate. I tugged on Andrea's which caused her too look down at me. Coughing, I managed to point in the right direction to which she held me to her side. Daryl was the first to turn.

"Walkers!" He yelled out and shot one straight in the head. "You led us into a graveyard!" He shouted angrily. I wanted to stand up for Rick but my throat had gone dry and I did not want to risk inhaling the disgusting scent again.

"He made a call!" Dale tried to tell him.

"It was the wrong damn call!"

"Just shut up." Shane approached Daryl. "You hear me? Just shut up! Rick this is a dead end." He walked back to Rick.

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol tearfully questioned.

"Do you hear me?" Shane was trying to get Rick's attention who seemed to distracted by the shutters. "No blame."

"We can't be here, this close to the city after dark." Lori kept a tight hold on Carl's arm. I noticed he was crying and I wanted to comfort him but I just didn't know how. I can't promise him something and not mean it.

"Fort Benning, still an option." Shane told Rick. Wasn't that more than 100 miles away?

"On what?" Andrea said, "No food, no fuel. That's a hundred miles." I held on to Andrea as she told Shane the news.

"125. I checked the map." Glenn slid in. This was one of those moments where I would make fun off him as that really had no point.

"Forget Fort Benning!" Lori shouted at Shane. "We need answers tonight, now!" She demanded.

"We'll think of something." Rick tried calming her down. I noticed how Rick's posture had changed and he was beginning to lose hope. I can't blame him. We're on a walker's dinner plate with no back up plans or nothing. I tugged myself away from Andrea who tried to pull me back but I ran towards Rick. Not wanting to leave him like the others were currently doing. Glenn tried reaching for me too but I made a promise and that was to stay with Rick until this whole nightmare was over. Looking at Rick's eyes, I followed their line of vision and found that they were staring at the camera above the shutters.

"The camera, it moved!" He announced to everyone.

"You imagined it." Dale tried explaining to him.

"It moved." He continued. I caught a hold of his sheriff's shirt and he broke off his stare just for a bit.

"I believe you." I hacked out with a dry voice. Something seemed to snap inside him and he banged on the shutters harder this time. I felt someone grab me from behind and drag me back. I looked up and found that it was Glenn. I tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he had a tight hold.

"No." He told me firmly but with uncertainty in his voice. "Please no." Something inside me turned off and I stopped struggling. I wanted to go back to Rick's side but there was something in Glenn's worried voice that prevented me from doing so.

"Please we're desperate! Please help us, we have women, children, no food. Hardly any gas left with no where else to go, please!" I closed my eyes not wanting to see Rick yelling anymore. Shane tugged Rick away from the shutters and practically threw him at everyone. I held onto Glenn's forearm as he dragged a stumbling me back towards the RV. That was when a loud screeching sound was heard. Everyone stopped shouting at each other and Glenn stopped as well. The light that engulfed us from inside made me look away because of its brightness. Is this it? Is this our safe haven?

**CDC**

Once we had gone inside, I stuck close to Glenn looking around and admiring the shiny floors. I finally pulled my sleeve away from my face and inhaled deeply.

"Watch for walkers." Rick said. After walking around in awe for a few seconds, he spoke up again. "Hello?" I was too busy staring at the tiles on the floor that when I head a click and clack sound, I nearly jumped. Looking up, I saw that Glenn and Rick had their guns pointed at something. Following their line of vision, I saw that it was a man with a gun as well.

"Anybody infected!" He yelled to us.

"One of group was. He didn't make it." Rick told him. The strange man began stepping closer to us.

"Why are you here, what do you want?" He asked us.

"A chance." Rick stated simply.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." Yeah that's true.

"I know." Everyone managed to stay quiet waiting for this guy's reply. He scanned every one of us and once he got to me I shuffled a bit behind Glenn. I hate when people stare at me, sometimes I feel as if I'm being judged which right now, I probably am.

"You all submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission." He stated.

"We can do that." Rick answered for the group. The man lowered his gun and started walking towards us, pointing his finger.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." I moved to the side to let Glenn pass through and help get everything. I already had my pack so it really didn't matter to me. I watched as the man hit a button on the wall punching in number I think.

"Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." An elevator dropped down and everyone squashed themselves in. I was between both Andrea and Glenn. The doors slammed shut and down we went.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" I heard Daryl ask from somewhere behind me.

"There were plenty left lying around, I familiarized myself." I watched as the man, Jenner, looked at us all with a smile. "But you look harmless enough. Except you." He made eye contact with Carl. "I'll have to keep my eye on you." He said with a smile. I looked at Carl to see his reaction and saw that he had a small smile on his face. Once the elevator stopped, everyone began moving again. We followed Jenner through various hallways until we reached a dark room. I stopped before stepping into it and someone bumped into me from behind.

"What's wrong? I heard a gruff voice say and realized it was Daryl. Putting up a top front, I stepped off to the right letting him pass through.

"No, not a thing." I looked away not wanting him to see through me.

"Whatever." He walked past me and I decided to stay behind the group, in the light until the room was brighter.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room," Jenner said, I watched as the room was engulfed in pure white. "Welcome to zone 5." He told us.

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked. "The doctors, the staff."

"I'm it. It's just me here." I felt bad for him when he had said that. Something terrible must've went on in here.

"What about the person you were speaking with, Vi?" Lori questioned him. I jogged up to stand closer behind the group.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them, welcome." I looked around waiting for this Vi person to speak up but couldn't find no one.

"That's strange." I muttered. I rubbed my hood having no clue as to where this Vi person was hiding.

"Hello, guests. Welcome." A sudden computerized voice sounded out of nowhere.

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Everyone became quiet again while I wondered while he would apologize. Jenner lead us into this room and began doing the blood samples. I sat between Andrea and Glenn waiting for it to be my turn. Once I sat in the chair, I felt myself dozing off again. We barely got through 1 person and it's already been five minutes. My eyes kept on closing on me and before I knew it, I felt myself leaning to the right. I was too lazy to sit straight again so I just got comfy in Andrea or Glenn's shoulder and fell asleep.

**No One's POV**

"Hey Glenn, look." Andrea motioned to Rinella who was taking a nap on her shoulder. She lifted her head and positioned it on her lap, with her hand resting on the sleeping girl's head. Glenn just smiled at them both before turning to back to Jenner. Before they knew it, it was Andrea's turn so she picked up Rinella's head and shifted it towards Glenn. He gave her a "What?" surprised face and did what Andrea did with her before. Once Andrea was done and Rinella was up next, they gently shook her awake.

"Alright, alright." She moaned out rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She was the last one since every one had wanted her to continue sleeping for the longest she can. As Jenner lifted up her right sleeve to insert the needle into her arm, she began dozing off again. When the needle was finally inserted she winced. After Jenner had taken her blood sample, he cleaned the small hole with a cotton ball. She shook her arm off and shakily went back to her seat. Andrea got up and held her as she nearly fell.

"Are you okay?" Jenner asked, watching as Andrea put her back in the seat with her head once again, on her lap.

"She just hasn't eaten for a while."

"None of us have." Jaqui added in.

Jenner turned his head to the side beginning to think.

**Author's Note**

**Yes, yes I know I said I was combining two episodes but I only managed to fit in a few minutes of the last episode but don't worry! When I get home from school tomorrow, I'll finish this season! I promise! Sorry for any mistakes since well, I'm really tired and it's nearly 12:30 over here. Good night everyone and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ( - w - )/**

**Inspirational Song - Skeleton Life **

**Sang by – Kagamine Rin and Len**

**I chose this song because I think it fits Glenn and Rinella's relationship as of now. Who knows, it may change. **


	9. Rest Of The Night

**I took a nap…again. Well on a happier note, it's the one year anniversary of Rinella's Turn! *Does small yahoo dance* I seriously do not know what to do for this year so I'll just draw pictures and take questions I suppose. I do not own The Walking Dead and enjoy the chapter! Oh man, it's already December 6 I mean 8, oh well sorry but those dang exams had me sleepin' a lot lately. Good thing they're over.**

**Rinella's POV**

I watched as everyone was getting huge spoonfuls of food and dumping it on their plates. Glenn was the one who had did it while Andrea playfully argued that I wouldn't eat a lot. She was right, to say the least. Looking down at my plate, I noticed that I made a small dent and that was just for the mashed potatoes. Nibbling on my biscuit, I took a look around at everyone. Most of the adults were drinking, wine I assume since the glass had a red liquid in it.

"You know in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale was saying, handing Lori another glass of wine, "And in France." He added. I had gone back to nibbling on my biscuit and watching the scene unfold.

"Yeah well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." She went back to drinking out of her glass until Rick spoke up.

"What's it gonna hurt, come on? Come on." Rick smiled at her. Everyone began laughing at the face that Lori had given him. She agreed to let him try some and so everyone was quietly waiting for his reaction. He made a disgusted face at the taste and set the glass back down on the table. I giggled at his reaction to the drink.

"That's my boy." Lori pats his back, glad that he didn't enjoy it.

"You stick to soda pop there bud." Shane told him. Or juice I mean, that's good stuff right there.

"Not you Glenn." I heard Daryl tell him which managed to get a few people to laugh some more. "Or you." I looked up at him to see that he was staring at me.

"Oh that's right you never had some either well, who's your guardian we need their consent." I looked at Dale with a blank stare not really knowing who was in charge of me.

"I am."

"I am."

"I am."

I nearly choked on my half way done biscuit when I heard three "I ams" around the table. Looking around I noticed that Rick, Glenn, and Andrea had their hands up. Since when had they become in charge of me? Not that I didn't like it but wait, now that I think about, they actually do take care of me. Looking up at Dale I found that he had a small smile. Had he wanted this to happen?

"So would you mind if she had a bit?" He turned his head to look at all three. Rick nodded, and Andrea just nodded her head with a smile.

"Sure." Glenn agreed when Dale had turned to him. He passed the glass of wine to Andrea who placed it in front of me. Finishing the last bit of my biscuit, I gently took the glass into my hands. Everyone had gone silent again but this time waiting for my reaction. Unlike Carl, I took a small sip and waited for the taste the settle on my tongue. Oh god, this tastes horrible. I gave the glass of wine back to Andrea and waited for a moment before sticking my tongue out. Multiple laughs were heard around the table and I immediately wanted to stick all of the food in my mouth to get this horrible taste out of my mouth. Using my fork I began eating the pasta.

"I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl's comment brought more joyful laughs to the table. I looked up to see Rick staring at something. I angled my head so I could see what but Dale was in the way. A ting ting sound made my head turn, only to see that Rick had stood up.

"It seems to me that we haven't thanked our host properly." I noticed that everyone picked up their glasses so I lifted up my grape juice.

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog stated. Choruses of "Booyahs" were heard around the table. I felt happy, with my new friends. No, more like family I suppose. So if this world is done and through and we go back to what was once our normal lives, who would I be living with? I scratched my cheek as I began thinking of all the different scenarios. With Glenn we would most likely be eating pizza a lot, with Andrea she would probably do what she used to do with Amy, and with Rick well, Lori would make me study like she has with Carl.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane questioned. "All the uh-the other doctors, that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" I pulled my hood down so that it covered my eyes. I didn't want anyone to see my dark eyes that were directed at him. In their vision I'm still a child and I want to keep it that way, just for a little while longer.

"Did you have to bring it up now?" I asked him.

"We're celebrating Shane." Rick told him. "Don't need to do this now."

"Woah, wait a second," He did a stop motion with his hand. "This is why we're here right? This was your move, supposed to find all the answers. Instead we uh, we found him." He pointed with his thumb. Is that supposed to mean something? If it was another doctor, they could've left us outside to die. Aren't you grateful for his hospitality? I wanted to ask Shane but seeing that he had some liquor, I really didn't want to anger him. Yet.

"Found one man, why?" Jenner himself looked surprised to say the least. I rested my hands on my lap waiting for someone to answer him.

"Well when things got bad a lot of people just, left. Went off to be with their families. And when things got worst, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Suicide was probably another reason. Just thinking that word, gives me the chills.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They…opted out. There was a rash of suicides." I was right and that's what bothered me. "That was a bad time." I lifted my hood up since my anger had gone down, to make my eyes visible again.

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea questioned him.

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good." Taking a glance at Andrea's face, I noticed that she seemed sad. I held her hand hoping to comfort her. She clenched mine and I felt safe to say the least.

"Dude you are such a buzz kill, man." Looking over to my left I saw Glenn walk towards a chair beside me. Subconsciously, my hand clasped his. I felt, happy to say the least. I actually had people who cared and worried about me.

Jenner was showing us around the building explaining why we had to "make do" with one part. I was behind Carl and Sophia walking alongside Glenn. Looking around, everything was so, white. It made me feel as if this was an asylum. I ran my fingers across the wall and loved how smooth it felt. I kept on walking until I felt someone pull me back slightly. Looking in front of me I noticed that Carl had stopped walking and I almost crashed into him. Since I already knew it was Glenn, I just shrugged when he looked at me.

"There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies if you shower, go easy on the hot water." My eyes glimmered when I heard about the rec room. Maybe I can finally get some sleep.

"Hot water?" Glenn said with a huge smile on his face. I swear it felt contagious because all so suddenly, I wanted to smile as well.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog laughed confirming for him.

I was going to follow Carl and Sophia to the rec room until I felt myself being pulled back. Again. Groaning I turned to look at who it was this time.

"Oh no not you, you're taking a shower." Andrea told me.

"Yeah you smell." Glenn made a wave motion with his hand.

"The same applies to you." I turned my head away and wet straight down the hall. I was about to go into one of the many rooms when something stuck me. I turned around and tugged on Andrea's shirt.

"Do you have any clothes I could borrow?" She stopped for a moment before thinking. She rummaged around in her bag until she managed to find something. She pulled out a button up pajama top and handed it to me.

"You don't have any clothes?" She asked me with an eyebrow raised.

"I left my house in a rush and well, I only managed to pack some underwear and short…shorts." She chuckled at my slow sentence and went into one of the rooms. Entering the bathroom, I quickly discarded my dirty clothes, Amy's hair tie, and hopped into the shower. Once I felt the water hit my back, I jumped. I was never really one for warm showers well, showers at all. I stuck close to the wall as I reached for the knob to make it colder. Once the water was to my liking I squeezed some shampoo into my hand and began rubbing my hair. Conditioner came next and I was almost done. I scrubbed myself with body wash as hard as I could to get rid of all the dry blood stains and layers of dirt. Looking to my left I found that there was a tube of toothpaste. Since I had no toothbrush with me, I simply put some on the tip of my now clean index finger and scrubbed about. Oh I really hate the taste of mint. I spat out everything once I was done. Following Jenner's directions I turned off the water and dried my hair. Looking at myself in the mirror I was surprised t see how fast my hair had grown. It flowed down beneath my breasts and I looked awfully skinny. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but still it looked sorta disgusting. I slid on a clean pair of underwear and was glad that I hadn't gotten my "P" yet, like the other girls at my school. I contemplated whether if I should wear a bra or not but decided on yes since, the girls would most likely take notice and blow their top off. My shorts were easy to put on and all that was left was the top. I buttoned it all the way to the top and decided to pull out another towel to lie on.

Once I was sitting cross legged on the towel I began thinking. Where were we going to get kicked out, why did I follow Rick everywhere, and why I liked this new world better than the past one. Subconsciously, I curled into a small ball on the floor as all these thoughts and questions swirled around in my head.

"I'm such a cruel person, a cruel, cruel, broken person." I whispered softly. My arms were clasped around my knees as I felt my eyelids closing. Before I knew it, I let darkness consume me once more.

When I woke up, I found that I wasn't in the restroom anymore but rather on a cream colored couch. Looking around I tore the blanket off of me and tried to find out where I was. Once the blanket was off, I instantly hugged myself to keep warm.

"O-oh, it's so cold." I picked up the blanket and tied it around me like a cape and walked towards an occupied bed. I didn't know who it was but that wasn't going to stop me from what I was about to do.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" I jumped onto the bed and spread my arms out. The person stirred in their sleep and off went the covers.

"What, what is it?!" The person tried yelling out but it really just sounded like jumbled words. I looked at the person's face and took a few steps back in shock which made me hit the ground…hard.

"Woah are you okay?" This strange person asked me. My hand was covering my mouth in shock.

"You're, are you…Glenn?" I questioned them.

"Yes wait-what?"

"It's just that…"

"That?"

"You're so…"

"So?"

"White." I whispered out the word. He fell back onto the bed and I picked myself up.

"Of course I am-I'm Korean." He told me with a hushed voice. "Hey wait, where are you going?" I turned my head to him when I was already half way out the door.

"I smell something delicious so…I'm a go get some."

"At least take off the cape!" He yelled to me groaning afterwards. I backtracked all the way to the couch and slid the cape off.

"Happy?" I asked him sarcastically.

"Very." I rubbed my forehead and remembered that I had some clean clothes. I dashed off to the restroom to dress into my old pair, the ones that Carol had washed for me. I simply switched the clothes and slid on the sweater since it wasn't that dirty. I mean just light dirt marks, nothing to fret over. Since I really don't like people touching my things I left my backpack on just incase someone wants to get a glimpse of what's inside. I opened the door and once I stepped out, I was surprised to find that Glenn was actually halfway down the hall. I was going to ask him something very loudly but noticed that he was holding his head.

"Hey, do you have a hangover?" I was beside him but he really just looked out of it. He simply nodded and the rest of the walk was quiet. Once we reached the kitchen, I took a seat on the right of him and waited for whatever smelled good.

"Eggs, powdered but I, do em' good." T-Dog said while walking around with scrambled eggs in a skillet. His announcement only received a groan from Glenn but multiple cheers. Jacqui rubbed Glenn's back as a way to comfort him so I rubbed his shoulder.

"Bet ya can't tell. Protein," He put two plates in front of Glenn and me. "Helps the hangover." He poured more eggs on Glenn's plate.

"Ahhh." He drawled out.

"Here." I looked up to see Lori handing Rick some pills.

"Where'd these come from?"

"Jenner."

"Could you help me please?" He asked her.

"He thought we could use these."

"Thank you."

"Don't ever, ever, ever, let me drink again." A small smile lit up on my face at his words. I was almost done with my eggs when Shane came out of practically nowhere. He headed straight for the coffee and that's when I noticed some scratch marks on him.

"The hell happened to you, your neck?" T-Dog questioned him instead of me. Thankfully.

"Most of done it in my sleep." Shane answered and took a seat.

"Never seen you do that before." Rick countered.

"Me either. Not like me, not like me at all." I looked up at Lori while my head was down and was surprised to see her with her head down as well. I quickly looked at Shane and noticed him staring at her. Yup something must have happened but I don't like getting into other people's business.

"Morning." Multiple "Hey Docs" were heard around the table when Jenner had entered.

"Doc I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-" Dale started.

"But you will anyway."

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea told him. I was finished with my eggs by the time she said that so I was questioning why we had came here again. Jenner lead us somewhere us, to the control room again.

"Give me a playback of TS-19." Vi followed his orders and this video started.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this," So this makes me special then right? "Very few." He finished. I took a look around only to find that I had somehow ended up next to Carl. Some brain scans came out on screen and I couldn't help but nudge Carl which got his attention.

"Look Carl," I pointed at the screen. "It's a brain." His eyes seemed to get wider and he turned to Jenner.

"Is that a brain?" He questioned him. Yes, yes it is.

"An extraordinary one." Carl smiled at the both of us and turned back to the screen. "Not that it matters in the end. He ordered Vi to zoom in and that is when these bright vine lights came out.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked him.

"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories, it's everything somewhere in all that organic wiring, in all those ripples of light, is you." He pointed at us. "The thing that makes you unique and human."

"This person died, who?" Andrea questioned.

"Test Subject number 19." That's when I realized I wasn't paying attention to anyone else, just the screen. "Someone who was bitten, infected, and volunteered to have us record the process." It became silent for a moment. "Vi, scan forward to the first event."

The display went on to when the virus is attacking the brain. Some black lines started appearing and once the brain went dark, that's when I realized. The body had died.

"Death. Everything you were or ever will be - gone," Jenner says which gained another moment of silence from us.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia questioned, quite innocently.

"Yes." Carol confirmed for her. I took a glance at Carl and noticed that he too had gotten very quiet so I pat his head. His sullen look had gotten to me and I at least wanted to make him feel a tad bit better. His face had lifted but the smile he put on, looked forced.

"She lost somebody two days ago, her sister." I looked at Andrea. This must've been hard on her.

"I lost someone too, I know how devastating it is." Jenner said to her. He fast-forwards to the second event. The subject's resurrection.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked.

"Just the brain-stem," Jenner corrects. "The human part - the you that-doesn't come back. Just a, empty shell. Driven by, mindless instinct." My lips quivered at the realization that, this is happening to millions of people outside. A sudden line passed through the subject's head.

"God, what was that?" Carol asked him.

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea answered. "Didn't you?"

"Vi power down the main screen and the work stations."

"You have no idea what it is do you?" Andrea accuses him. I looked at Jenner waiting for his answer. He started listing down some diseases until Jacqui interrupted him.

"Or the wrath of god." That could be it I mean, there are lots of things humanity as done wrong.

"It could be that."

"There are other ones out there right? Other facilities?" Andrea asked him a bit shakily.

"There could be some. People like me."

"You don't know? How could you not know?" I gulped, wanting to say something but I just couldn't.

"Everything went down communications, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month." He answered Rick.

"So it's not just here? There's nothing left-anywhere? Nothing, that's what you're really saying, right?" Andréa continued. Everyone became silent when he didn't answer. "Jess." Andrea muttered. I ran my hand through Carl's hair while pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Man, I'm a get shit-face drunk." Daryl suddenly spoke up which almost made me want to laugh even if this was, a crucial moment. Carl removed my hand from his head and grasped it in his own.

"Dr. Jenner." Dale interrupted the stunned silence. " That clock," He pointed I turned my head to see this big clock on the far corner. "Is counting down. What happens at zero?" It better not be some bomb thing cause that's what it always is in movies. And books.

"The basement generators, they run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick questioned. I watched as Jenner simply ignored his question and began walking away. Oh no.

"Rick," I spoke up. He turned to me and pretty much everyone else. "Try asking Vi." He turned his head up to the ceiling.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" I waited anxiously for her reply.

"When the power runs out facility wide decontamination will occur." She answered. Rick, Glenn, T-Dog, and Shane dashed to the basement and Lori led Carl and me to her room. I sat down on the couch beside Carl when suddenly the air cut off.

"Mom, something wrong?" Carl asked her.

"Uh nothing, it's just," She froze for a second. "The air conditioner stopped." I was playing with the hair tie on my wrist but I still knew she was lying.

**Jenner**

In his office, Jenner stares at a photograph of a woman, asking her to understand that he did the best he could in the time that he was given. He says he hopes she'd be proud of him.

"They always said there'd be more time."

**Rinella's POV**

Everyone was following Jenner, asking him multiple questions, and Daryl even wanted to pick a fight with him.

"Rick?" Lori yelled down to him from the 2nd floor. We all walked down the stairs to the four guys. I swiftly walked past everyone and towards Glenn before hiding following behind him.

"Again?" He whispered. I nodded with a stern face.

"If anyone's gonna get hurt," I pointed at Rick who confronted Jenner. "It's going to be you, not me." We followed Jenner back to the control room.

"It was the French." He says.

"What?" Andrea questioned him. Why are we talking about the French now?

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the door into the hallways committing suicides, they stayed in the lab until the end. They thought they were close to a solution." They really weren't were they?

"What happened?" Jacqui spoke up.

"Same thing that's happening here. The power grid, ran out of juice. The world runs on fuel, how stupid is that?" He walked away from the group.

"Let me tell you something-" Shane ran up the stairs to him before Rick grabbed him.

"To hell with this Shane, I don't even care." He turned towards everyone. " Lori, grab our things. We're getting out of here, now!" He ordered us. Everyone was about to run to their previous rooms when all of a sudden the emergency alarms started blaring. Flashing red lights and the time appeared on the screen.

"30 minutes until decontamination." Vi stated.

"Everybody you all heard Rick, get your stuff let's go, let's go!" Shane yelled at us. I stood back and let Glenn go ahead of me since I already had my things.

"Let's go Let's go!" T-Dog motioned to us. Doors suddenly rolled up and that's when I realized that, we were locked in.

"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn asked terrified. "he just locked us in!" He shouted. I clenched his shirt as a way of saying "Stay calm there's a little girl you need to take care of".

"Son of a bitch! You just locked us in here!" Daryl shouted and made a run for Jenner. Rick yelled at Shane to get him before he injured Jenner who seemed to be recording.

"Jenner open that door now." Rick ordered him.

"There's no point. Everything topside is automatically locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."

"Well open the damn things!"

"That's not something I control. The computers do." He pointed at Rick. "I told you, once that front door closes it wouldn't open again-you heard me say that." I turned to look at everyone. The first thing I noticed was Carol holding Sophia. "It's better this way."

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes." Shane pounded on Jenner's back which made him stand up.

"You know what this place is? We protected the public from very nasty stuff!" He yelled at Shane. The words he was yelling out I didn't pay attention to. I was too stuck on trying to find a way out of here. I ran my hand through my hair trying to remember something that, I think was important. "To prevent strains of disease from getting out if the building's security was ever compromised, HITs were deployed to prevent organisms from getting out."

"HITs?" Rick asked him.

"Vi define." Vi began to tell us about how HITs are used and why.

"It sets the air on fire." Jenner explained finally though, everyone seemed to get it because they were crying. So that's it? Is this how we were supposed to die? I believed that somehow Rick would get us out of this but now I'm getting closer to bawling my eyes out.

"Open the damn door!" My eyes were on Daryl when he threw a bottle at the locked doors.

"Out of my way!" Shane ran across the platform and tried breaking it with an axe.

"I doubt that'll work." I muttered sadly.

"We still need to try." I lifted my head up to see Glenn.

"Try what? Axes won't even make a dent. The way I see it, you're just wasting your time." I told him coldly. He became quiet. "If you want to get out of here, the only chance we have is to talk to the man in charge. It's simpler isn't it? Than fighting our way through." I didn't know what to think. "But then again, all men are the same." I muttered softly.

"Daryl, Daryl! Get back!" We turned our heads to see Dale, T-Dog, and Rick push Daryl back who was swinging around an axe. My point exactly.

"You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." My eyes became rather large when Jenner had said that. Rick would never say that would he?

"What you really said that?" Shane asked him. "After all you've been through?"

"I had to keep hope alive didn't I?" He tried telling Lori and Carol.

"There is no hope. There never was."

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe it won't be here but there's somebody, somewhere-"

"What part of everything's gone do you not understand?" Andrea told Rick.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." More crying ensued and even my cold façade was beginning to break. Had my hands clasped together in front of my chest.

"This isn't right you just can't keep us here!" Carol cried out tearfully.

"One tiny moment a millisecond, no pain." Jenner tried to reason.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." Carol held crying Sophia tightly.

"Wouldn't it be kinder more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for their clock to run down?" He tried explaining it to us in a more softer way. Shane cocked his gun and pointed it at Jenner's face. Demanding a way out.

"This is not the way we do this, we will never get out of here." Rick was trying to reason with Shane. "If he dies we all die!" Shane let out a yell and turned to shoot at the monitors. Everyone ducked their heads and covered their ears. I kept my eyes closed waiting for his rampage to stop. I don't know what happened but the noise had stopped and when opened my eyes, I saw T-Dog with the gun and Rick scanning the crowd.

"I think you're lying." He turned back to Jenner.

"What?"

"You're lying, about no hope. If that was true you would've been like the rest and taken the easy way out. You didn't, you chose the hard path, why?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter, it always matters. You stayed when others ran why?" Rick demanded.

"I didn't stay become I wanted too. I made a promise." He stood up and pointed at the screen. "To her, my wife." His wife, does he mean-

"Test-Subject 19, your wife?" Lori questioned.

"She made me keep going as long as I could. How could I say no, she was dying." Daryl's pounding on the doors were drawn away by Jenner's words. "It should've been me on that table; she was one of the finest scientists in the world! Hell she ran this place, I just-I just worked here! In our field she was an Einstein. Me I'm-I'm just Edwin Jenner, she could've done something about this. Not me." He told us.

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do and that's, that's all we want." Rick tried to explain, making hand movements. "That's all we want, a chance."

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori pleaded with Carl in her arms. Jenner took another look at everyone and took a deep breath.

"I told you topside's locked down I can't open those." He pressed some buttons and all of a sudden the doors opened. I froze for a minute not knowing if I should run since the group still wasn't moving.

"Come on let's go!" Glenn and Daryl yelled to us. We all made a dash for the doors but I stopped when I noticed Rick wasn't behind us. Lori left Carl with me and I held his hand waiting for Rick to follow.

"We've got four minutes left-come on!" Glenn shouted from behind us and that's when I noticed someone was holding Carl and me.

"Let's go, let's go Jac-" T-Dog was holding on to Jacqui.

"No, I'm staying! Uh uh, I'm staying sweetie."

"But that's insane!"

"Not it's completely sane. For the first time in a long time. I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy. There's no time to argue, no point now if you wanna get out, just get out. Get out." Jacqui told T-Dog while holding his face. I ran with everyone on ahead and up the stairs till we reached the locked doors. Everyone tried desperately to break the windows with whatever they could find. Guns, and whatnot.

"Get down!" Shane yelled. I dropped down between Glenn and Sophia.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia asked. I held onto Sophia's hand unsure of what to do.

"It'll break. They'll find a way, I'm sure of it." I don't know if this lie was to comfort her or me.

"I think I have something that might help," Carol says, fumbling in her purse.

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." I looked up to see what she was going to do.

"Your first morning at camp," She tells Rick. "When I washed your uniform? I found this in your pocket." She pulls out the hand grenade that Rick had found when we were in the tank. That's the thing! That's the important thing I was trying to remember!

"Sophia, look it was your mom, she was the one who found the way!" T told her excitedly. She threw herself at me when I had my arms open. We held on tightly to each other as Rick began to detonate the grenade. The glass shattered and I held onto Sophia's hand as we fought our ways through walkers who were attracted to the loud sound. I would've helped if I had my gun but then I wouldn't be able to have felt this warmth in my hand. I clenched her hand tightly when a walker neared and turned my head when Daryl took a swing at it. Thankfully, the blood splattered elsewhere and not on us. Once we reached the cars, I let go of her hand and ran into the RV. Glenn close behind. That's when I remembered that Andrea was nowhere with us. Or Dale.

"Wait, wait, wait-where's Andre and Dale?" I questioned Rick. He had gotten quiet for a moment.

"We need to leave."

"No we can't. We-we can't just leave them there!" I yelled at him. My voice beginning to crack.

"Rinella, we have to, they-"

"No they're coming!" Lori exclaimed, pointing at Dale and Andrea who just climbed out of the blasted window.

"Dale get down, get down! Everybody get down!" Rick ushered us to the back and I crouched down beside Carl with my hands covering my head. Glenn covered me while Lori covered Carl and Rick covered all of us. A loud and resounding "Boom" was heard. We all lifted our heads once the sound had stopped and all that was seen were flames.

"Come on, come on!" Glenn beckoned Dale and Andrea to the RV. I sat down with Andrea, my head resting on her shoulder clearly exhausted from today's events. My mind was completely numbed of any thoughts and that's when I realized something.

_How long has it been since I've slept? _

**Author's Note**

**I am truly and deeply sorry for not updating these past few days but I'll probably start up again tonight. So yeah if you have any questions about Rinella concerning her relationship with people, traits, habits, favorite foods, animals, um even about her birthday? Running gags that I plan to keep in this story? Then ask away. Oh and if you have any requests, then I'll gladly start on them…if I have inspiration. Nah but seriously I'll get to them. That'll probably be a small bonus chapter if you want. So yeah I hope you enjoyed and this chapter was completed at 3 in the afternoon, yay only "early" time! Sorry for any mistakes but I do not read my chapters over and over just to find them. Oh and Christmas break is coming which means, more staying up late which also means more time on working on chapters!**

**Inspirational Song – **I don't really have one for this chapter so I'll just put one that I love and kinda relates to the chapter? **Die Young**

**Artist – K-E-S-H-A **

Yeah so, pretty awkward.


	10. Lie With Me?

**Hey! Guess who's back, back again…she slept for about 1 hour before everyone started questioning about where she was. So then they finally went to check up on her and found that she was curled up in the restroom hugging her knees. That was a long sentence, well anyways enjoy the chapter! Oh and I don't own The Walking Dead!**

**Rinella's POV**

_Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. _I felt my hand shoot straight up and grasp something. The sudden shaking stopped and I arose from my sprawled out form. I rubbed my eye with my left hand, wondering who wanted to wake me up.

"C'mon we're switching vehicles." I lifted my head and looked towards where the voice had come from. I nodded and jumped off where I was sleeping and found myself on the floor. Creaking sounds were heard from the entrance of the RV.

"What happened?" I'm pretty sure that was Rick.

"I-I don't know. She got up and looked absolutely awake before dropping to the floor." Oh it was Glenn. I groaned because of all the voices.

"Well, it's time to wake up. We need to go." He didn't seem impatient but there was something hidden beneath his voice that made me wake up a bit, was it urgency? I waved my hand above my hand waiting for someone-anyone to grab it. A warm hand clenched my cold one and I found myself on my feet. Yawning, I followed Rick to a small car, Carol's Cherokee I believe. Carol went in first followed by Sophia, me, and finally Carl. Lori sat in the passenger seat while Rick was the driver. My mind was still hazy and so were my eyes. So only a few words had gotten through my ears.

"Can we go see it? The Grand Canyon?" Carl asked. "I'd like to." If he's going then I want to go too.

"I want to go to. Can we go?" Sophia joined in on another conversation, wonderful! I can't wait to talk about more things once we stop. It'll be so much fun.

"We'd never go without you or your mom. That's a promise." That's good. Better keep that promise Rick.

"How bout your friend there?" Would she like to come?" Lori asked. I didn't know who so I was going to answer.

"Yeah."

"Yes." At that moment, I heard two voices which were not at all mine.

"Alright, it's settled. We're ALL going to The Grand Canyon." Rick said this time.

"Yay." I threw my right hand up in the air weakly before hitting the backseat again. This earned me a few laughs. I felt my head leaning towards the right and promptly closed my eyes to regain my lost sleep.

**No One's POV**

"Oh, Carl looks like you got your hands full there." Lori teased her son whose gaze was fixed on the passing grass and dirt.

"What?" Carl questioned before looking on his left shoulder. "Yeah, she sleeps a lot." He smiled, laughing. Carol and Sophia joined in on the laughter as well.

"Out like a light." Rick commented looking at hem through the rear view mirror. Once his eyes went back to the road, the brakes were hit. The RV that Dale was driving had come to a halt. Rick maneuvered around the hundreds of derelict vehicles that littered the high way. Carol held her daughter's leg while Lori covered Carl's and the sleeping Rinella. Decaying bodies were still inside some vehicles and everyone was nervous about the dangers lurking within the wreckage. Rick came to another abrupt stop once the RV finally broke down with white smoke emitting from it. The adults came out of the car first before leading their children out.

"Carl wake her up." Lori asked anxiously taking another look around the area. Carl shook her for a while until finally, her eyes fluttered open.

"We have to go, something's wrong." Carl told her. Rinella did a small stretch before following after the mom and son.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane points out, his hands on his gun.

The group surveys the needed supplies they could gather from the abandoned cars all round the high way.

"We could siphon more fuel from these cars, for a start." Says T-Dog.

"Maybe some water?" Suggests Carol, hugging Sophia with one arm.

"Food?" Glenn adds. The group was silent for a moment as if they were waiting for something or someone to say something. Glenn scanned the crowd trying to locate the small girl who tends to follow him around, only to find that she was trying to sleep while standing.

"This is a graveyard." The group becomes quiet once again waiting for some sort of sign. "I don't know how I feel about this." Lori finishes.

"Alright, alright, here we go. Come on everybody look around gather what you can." The group dispersed, all looking for different supplies. Rinella who felt herself being dragged, shook her head to rid of the sleepiness. She took a look around and found that Carl was holding onto her wrist with his right, whilst holding Lori's hand with his left. She tore her hand away foreign to the sudden contact. Carl turned his head giving her a questioning look with his eyes. She smiled weakly before shoving both her hands in her jacket pocket.

"Kids, don't look." Carol told the three of them. Though they were tempted to, they followed her demand. The two mothers stopped to rummage through some cars while the kids were let on ahead.

"Carl, always within my sight." Lori told her son.

"You too Sophia." Carol also told her child. A forced smile lit up on Rinella's face as she led the kids through some cars. A frown lingered on her face for a millisecond before quickly changing to a surprised expression.

"Carl, Sophia, check this out." She motioned them over to one of the cars.

"What?" Carl questioned. Her hand reached into the broken window before pulling out a small bear and doll. The two plushies were surprisingly clean of any blood. Aside from the black smudges, overall it looked clean. She handed the bear to Carl who smiled at the gift and she kept a hold on to the doll. It had blond hair cascading down its back, a light blue dress that was slightly torn at the hem, and bead black eyes. The bear had a red bowtie and was a dark chocolate brown.

"Now the three of us match. Since we're going to be best friends forever, of course we need matching items." Sophia and Carl smiled at the girl's overjoyed expression. That's when her happy expression became one of worry.

**Rinella's POV**

Rushing footsteps were approaching us so I turned my head only to see Rick mouthing some words. He looked anxious and once he made that pointed finger at the floor, I grabbed Sophia and Carl.

"Get under the cars, hurry." I whispered, urgency in my voice. I made sure Sophia was hidden beneath her car before pushing Carl more into the middle of his. I was about to go back with Sophia when a sudden shiver went up my spine. Wha? What is it now? _Don't._ My body hit the ground hard and I rolled myself over beside Carl. Walkers shuffled through the gap between our two cars and I made shushing motions to Sophia. She looked as if she was about to cry so I held on to my doll still making the motions. I felt something warm touch my arm. I tilted my head nervously only to find that it was Carl's hand. I completely forgot about him. I got a hold of his hand and held it tight. Where are all these coming from?! I felt sweat drops running down from my temple. The footsteps were no more but I still wasn't sure. I noticed Sophia was inching closer to me.

"Don't move." I tried mouthing but once she caught sight of my moving lips, down came a walker between us. She let out a scream before scrambling to get away. I tried reaching for my gun before I realized that it was in the bag with the rest. I don't care if I get bit, I lived my life the way I wanted too, I don't care if I'm a die pure, I will save Sophia. I ripped my hand away from Carl and grabbed a hold of the walker's shirt and dragged him beneath me. My whole body was trembling and its head was beginning to turn. Not knowing what to do with no weapon on me, I clenched the walker's hairs tightly before bringing its head up.

"You will not hurt her." I growled out. It only chomped its yellow teeth at me before, without a second thought, I banged its face against the cold hard pavement. Its arms were still twitching so I brought him back up and down for another one.

"Still moving?" I banged its head again, and again, and again. Its face looked like mush after the 8th bang and it finally stopped moving. Looking around I noticed that Sophia was nowhere to be found.

"My baby, my baby!" I heard Carol yell out before running towards the edge with Lori right behind her. Looking in front of me I saw that Carl, Dale, Glenn, nearly everyone was staring at me. They looked horrified, disgusted, worried, too many faces and expressions for me to count. I reached up to touch my face and all I was greeted with a crimson liquid on my fingers. My hands were still trembling and all in all I just felt like bawling my eyes out. Words fell short at this moment; I felt as if nothing could explain how I feel. I was dirty, scared, and that's when I heard footsteps. Turning my head, I saw that it was Glenn. I scrambled off of the dead walker away from him. He held his hand out to me but I was afraid to touch it. As if it would kill me.

**Glenn's POV**

She looked like a complete mess; as if a tornado had ripped through, full of blood and dirt. Her eyes were wide like a deer in headlights. I inched closer to her whenever she would back up. Splotches of blood had gotten on her cheeks and that white sweater only had dirt on it. Once I had gotten close enough, I reached for her hand but it shot up to cover her face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She whispered with a choked up voice.

"What?" I questioned. Her muttering only continued and her eyes seemed as if they had gotten wider. Then I remembered. Rick said that she had a bad relationship with her parents but what kind of things happened? I took advantage –and though I felt guilty about it- of her traumatic state and lifted her up into my arms, carrying her back to the RV. The whole time she was saying sorry but she didn't seem as lifeless as before because now she tightly clenched my shirt in small fists. Everyone's eyes were on us but that didn't matter right now. I took her into the RV and laid her on the couch before going to the restroom and wetting a rag. I came back and wiped her face of all the blood that had gotten on her. She stayed silent the whole time.

"Alright, almost done," I wiped her hands and was glad that she stopped saying sorry. "And done." Though she still looked motionless, at least she was clean now. I went to dump the rag in the sink before walking back in front of her. Her lips twitched and I waited her reaction.

"What are you looking at?" This was certainly not the comment I was hoping for. I sighed. "Hey, what did I say about sighing?" She asked before getting in my face.

"That I lose a bit of happiness. Alright, alright, I get it." I waved her off hoping that would annoy her. Which it did.

"Don't treat me as if I'm nothing! You would be lonely without me!" She tried yeling. I winced and rubbed my ear.

"Okay, okay. Are you fine now?"

"Yeah, wait…what?" She questioned me.

"You know when you killed that walker?" She looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

"What are you talking about? I don't have my gun back yet. There's no way I would go out and fight a walker bare handed." She merely shook me off.

"You, you don't remember?" I asked her. She got up and pat my back.

"Glenn, Glenn, Glenn, it's alright. Whatever you were imagining didn't really happen. Though, it would be cool if it did." No, no it wouldn't because you would go back into that state. "Well, I think I hear Dale calling for you so, run along now." She was pushing me out of the RV. "Shoo, shoo."

"Hey, wait!" She pushed me off before heading back on in. I sighed deciding it would be best to go see what Dale had wanted.

**Rinella's POV**

"I do not know what he was talking about and I do not what to know why." Now let's go outside and see what Carl and Sophia are doing. Oh wait, yeah that's what happened. I sat back down and settled on looking out the window.

"Sophia, I hope you're safe." I whispered.

"Me too." I jumped when I heard a second voice. Turning my head, I saw that it was Carl. He handed me my doll while he held on to his bear.

"Oh, how can I forget?" I smiled at the items before giving him a nod as thanks.

"So why are you in here? I half expected you to be outside with your mom." His eye cast down to the floor.

"Shane yelled at me about coming back here to Dale." Shane, I knew that guy was no good. I nodded at his answer holding onto my doll.

"Is that it?" I asked him.

"No, they're having a meeting and they didn't want me to worry so they sent me in here so you wouldn't be lonely."

"How nice of them." Looking out the window, it had suddenly become orange which meant that night was falling.

"Carl, if you don't mind I'm a, I'm a go to sleep." I felt myself dozing off again.

"You sleep a lot don't you?"

"Haha, yeah." I curled myself up by the window before promptly knocking out.

**The Next Morning**

I woke up with a jolt only to find that I had actually woken up early…for the first time. When I tried to get up, I found that someone laid a blanket on me. I carefully picked up the blanket and folded it before laying it on the couch. Walking outside the RV, I was greeted with a ray of sunshine.

"Ow, my eyes." I rubbed them before jumping off the last steps of the RV. I noticed Rick approaching the group with a bag of knives and machetes instead of guns. He laid them out on the hood of a white car before explaining what we were doing.

"Everybody takes a weapon." Rick declared.

"There aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" Andrea questioned. I really didn't want a fight breaking out this early in the morning so I went to stand beside Andrea.

"We went over that. Rick and I are the only ones carrying; we don't want people poppin' rounds every time a tree rustles." Shane told her. Who said we would be poppin' rounds? Assumptions are the worst things to make.

"It's not the trees I'm worried about."

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment and a herd seems to be passing by, then its game over for all of us." Though he had somewhat of point, I was not going to agree with him. "So you need to get over it." I rubbed Andrea's arm in hopes of calming her down because frankly, Shane was being a mean guy.

"Chances are she'll be by the creek." Daryl confirmed for us. Oh so we're looking for Sophia! I'll find her well, we'll find her and then we can have fun again! Looking towards my right I saw Glenn pick up a nice knife and looked as if he was in love with it.

"Stay quiet, stay sharp. Keep space between you, but always stay within sight of each other." I rubbed Andrea's arm once more before following Rick.

"Everybody assemble your packs." Shane ordered us. Rick noticed me and sent me a questioning glance. I shrugged my shoulders before patting his.

"What? You can't get rid of me that easily. I'm in your group from now on until the end." He stared at me for a while more before grabbing a loose strand in my face and tucking it behind my right ear. I pat my forehead, searching for anymore loose strands.

"Dale keep working on those repairs, get this RV ready to move. We're not staying here a minute after then we need to. Good luck out there, bring Sophia back." I stood behind Rick while he was talking to Dale.

"Keep an eye on Carl while we're gone." He pats Carl's shoulder. Wait, I thought he was coming too. I mean, his parents are both leaving him.

"I'm going with you,. You need people right? To cover as much ground as possible." Rick shook his head before turning to Lori. I also turned to Lori hoping for a yes.

"I can't always be the bad guy." No, no you can't. I finger combed my hair again, wanting to get it as straight as possible.

"Well he has all of you too look after him, and you." He looked at me and so did everyone else. He pulled Rick off to the side to talk to him and I'm pretty sure it was about me. Carl looked at me for answers.

"I don't know." I shrugged me shoulders again before successfully untangling the final knot. They came back and Rick held his hat in his hands.

"Okay, Okay but only within our sight no exceptions." Dale gave Carl a wink before we all dispersed again. I followed after Carl not really wanting to talk at anyone else at the moment.

"You think we're gonna find her?" He asked me.

"You can bet on it. We'll find her and we'll play Mario again, how bout that?" We shook on it and then we were just staring at the trees while we waited for everyone to be ready. Once everyone was well armed and ready for what lies ahead, we began our search. We were all in one line trekking through the woods. I was behind Glenn while Carl behind me, Lori, and then Shane. I kept the small knife in my pocket not wanting to take it out and risk cutting myself. It really stings and it would be the dumbest thing to do.

"Ssh, she could be in there." Daryl announces as we all kneeled down. I looked towards where he was pointing and saw a little blue tent. "Lots of things could be in there." He went on ahead and the whole line was about to follow him before Rick held up a hand. I watched as Shane went along with Rick after Daryl.

"This isn't really a group search is it?" I asked Glenn with a half hearted smile.

"They're just trying to keep us safe." He answered me, still keeping a tight hold on that machete of his.

"Carol!" Rick called out her and motioned the lot of us over. He had her by his side, "Call out softly. If she's in there, your voice is the first that she should hear." He told her.

We all became quiet waiting for Carol's voice.

"Sophia, sweetie are you in there? Sophia its mommy. Sophia, we're all here baby. It's mommy. " Rick motioned for her to stop before standing beside Daryl who had his knife out. He lifted up the tent flap before going on in. All of a sudden, Rick and Shane began hacking and couching.

"Daryl, Daryl?" Carol called out. Lori comforted Carol once Daryl had came out.

"It's not her."

"What was in there?" Lori questioned him.

"Some guy, did what Jenner said. Opted out." He fixed his arrows before slinging the weapon over his back. "Ain't that what he called it?" A sudden ringing noise caught our ears.

"Is that," My ears were still adjusting to the foreign sound. "A church bell?" I asked. Everyone looked at me and once again I hid behind Glenn. The ringing was still going so we all ran towards the noise.

"If we hear them, maybe Sophia does too." Carol asked hopefully.

"Someone's ringing those bells, maybe calling others." Glenn said.

"Signaling that they found her." Andrea told Glenn.

"Or Sophia's doing that herself." I gained some more looks and I instantly jumped behind Glenn…again.

"Yeah she could be ringing them herself." Rick agreed before we all took off towards the sound faster.

"Come on." Shane said. We stopped above a clearing, looking out at a white church. "That can't be it, no steeple, no bells." He told us. Rick didn't seem to care and sped right off towards it. "Rick!" Everyone ran after Rick at different speeds. I was successfully keeping up with Glenn which just proves I'm a fast runner. That's nice to hear. Rick came to a stop in front of a red door and proceeded to open it, with Daryl close by his side. Once the door was pushed open, it made a creepy creaky sound and three walkers turned their towards us. Lori handed Rick her knife while Glenn handed Daryl his. Shane took out the last walker with his knife, slicing its face up more than necessary. I blanched at the sight but quickly turned my attention up at the cross hanging above. Sophia isn't here is she? Of course you wouldn't answer, you're just a statue.

"SOPHIA!" Rick yelled I frustration.

"I'm telling you this is the wrong church. No steeple, no steeple." Shane tried calming him down. Bells were ringing again and everyone ran off towards the sound. Turning the corner there was no bell or nothing.

"It's all automated." I stated. I watched sadly as Glenn unhooked the bells in frustration.

"I'm going back inside for a bit." Carol announces. Having no where else to go, we all followed after her. I lingered on the steps for a while before deciding to head on in and take a seat in the back. Carol sat with Lori in the front row praying while I sat in the back questioning. If you get all these prayers from people, why do you bring such misery upon them? A little while later once everyone had said what they wanted to say, we all went to take a seat in the graveyard.

"I always wanted to visit a graveyard." I said while plucking out some grass and sprinkling it around my pants.

"That's not creepy at all." Glenn tried to joke. I smiled at his remark.

"Nope, nope it isn't." I told him.

"You're all gonna follow the creek bed back okay? Daryl you're in charge. Me and Rick we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so to be thorough." Shane announced.

"You're splitting us up? Ya' sure?" Daryl asks him.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to ya'." Shane reassured him. I stood up with my hands behind my head.

"I wanna stay too, she's my friend." I stood beside Carl while Rick and Shane sent glances at Lori.

"Just be careful okay?" Lori held his face between her hands.

"I will." He assured her.

"When did you start growing up?" She hugged Carl for a long time and then when I looked on ahead, I saw Rick staring at me.

"You heard what I told you and I mean it." I winked which made him smile. He went on to hug Lori. Oh great another hug fest. I just wish I had someone who would do that to me. A sudden rub on my head woke me up.

"You come back too. I'll-we'll be waiting." I smiled at the slip of his tongue before laying my hands atop his.

"I will. No need to fear, Rinella shall be here." I declared pointing at his chest.

"Wrong side." He commented chuckling.

"Here." I pointed to his heart and he just laughed before walking off with Lori.

"Give me a minute?" Rick asked Shane. He nodded and Rick went back to the small church.

"Come on." He told Carl and me. Though I didn't enjoy his company, I was not about to start a fight now. We took a seat on the stairs, waiting for Rick to come back out. I wonder what he's talking about.

"Get what ya' needed?" I looked to my right and saw that Rick had already gone the steps. Wait, when did he pass me?

"We'll see." He told Shane. We all looked at each other before standing up and following after him. We were once again in the woods and after a few minutes had to come to a stop. Is that? Is that a deer?! My thoughts were jumbled for this was way better than one of those zoos people would talk about.

"Shane." I heard Rick say. Looking behind me, I noticed that Shane had his gun pointed at the poor thing. That's sad Shane, even for you. I watched as Carl was taking a few steps forward before someone nudged me forward. I turned my head only to see that Rick was motioning me forward. Carl waited for a second before glancing back at us. He saw me approaching so he waited. Once I stood alongside him, we walked up slowly towards the deer. I looked at Carl and saw that he was smiling. Looking back at the deer, I saw that it was staring at us. So close, so close I wonder how soft its fur is? Just a few more steps I yelled excitedly in my head. Suddenly, a loud gunshot echoes and as I turn my head all I could see was the deer going down. Carl, too went down, alongside it with blood seeping from his chest. Immediately I dropped down to my knees, covering the small hole that had formed.

"NOO!" I hear Rick yell and seconds later, is in front of me on Carl's right side. Was this, was this,

_Really happening?_

**Author's Note**

**Woo! Second season, good start I hope! Wow, touching blood isn't really that nasty but a lot of it is just, too much. I really hope Rinella copes well. I don't want both of her best friends to be gone. This part was coming, we all knew it and even I wasn't prepared. That's all for today and sorry for any mistakes since I really don't reread my chapters. Well good night! It's 1:00AM over here and I do not want to skip again tomorrow.**

**Inspirational Song – Chasing Cars**

**Sang by – Snow Patrol **

**For some strange reason, I felt that this was a good song for this chapter. It's just that when Rinella was having so much fun with Sophia and Carl. As if they really didn't need anything or anyone. She also doesn't know how to say how she feels and so on. Well, good night now. **


	11. A Restless Night

**Sorry, I took a small nap. Now that I'm watching The Walking Dead again, I noticed that it was very sad (Especially when T-Dog sees the bloody car seat). Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter and to answer why she sleeps a lot, I had wanted to make a character who was lazy but who's lazy during a zombie apocalypse? So yeah and it was also her way to cope with things. I'll probably go into details later but for now lets just say she has hypotension (Low blood pressure). **

**Rinella's POV**

My hands were bloody and shaking once Rick lifted Carl up; away from my hands. We were currently running through a field with Carl unconscious in Rick's arms.

"Hey! You move shit head come on stand!" I heard Shane yelling at the overweight guy behind us. A hunter I believe.

"How far, how far?!" Rick yelled at the man. I didn't turn my head around, in fear of not making it to the place in time. Carl needed help and fast.

"About a half mile! That way, ask for Hershel, he'll help your boy." The man yelled to Rick breathlessly. I was trying my best not to stop and rest because the wound, the gunshot in Carl could be life threatening.

"Do you see it?! Do you see it?!" Rick shouted to me. I raised the sleeves of my sweater to my elbows.

"I-I see it!" I shouted back. The house was white and fairly large. It looked old but it still stood tall. "Help, we need help! Please!" I shouted at some people who suddenly came out of the house. One of the girls came down to me and tried taking me inside, holding my shoulders and all. She grasped my hands to look at the blood from when I put pressure on Carl's wound. I pushed her off of me though. "No no, not me. Him." I told her pointing shakily at Rick and Carl who were just reaching the place.

"Was he bit?" The girl and I turned our heads to see this old man with suspenders and white hair, pulling up his sleeves.

"Shot by your man." Rick answered his question. I looked at his arms and saw that blood covered his arms.

"Otis?" A woman wearing a pale colored dress asked.

"He said find Hershel, is that you?" Rick asked the old man. "Please help me, help me. My boy." He begged desperately.

"Get inside." Hershel told everyone. I followed the girl who was checking on me into the house. He asked for the help from two women named Patricia and the girl who was with me, Maggie. He went on to list everything he needed towels, painkillers and such. My mind was out of control; I was too worried for the bleeding Carl in Rick's arms. Hershel fixed up a bed for Rick to lay Carl on.

"Pillowcase." Hershel asked from him.

"Is-is he alive?" Rick questioned him, worry lacing his voice.

"Quick, pillowcase." Hershel demanded. Rick grabbed a pillowcase from the headboard of the bed.

"Is he alive?" Rick kept asking him.

"Fold it make a pad, put pressure on the wound." Rick did what he was instructed and shakily held it atop Carl's wound. My hands were rubbing together as a result of my nervousness. "I've got a heartbeat," Oh thank god. "It's faint."

"I got it step back." The lady, Patricia took Rick's job.

"We need some space." Maggie told Rick.

"Your name?" Hershel questioned.

"R-Rick." He answered. He stuttered a few times before finally "I'm Rick."

"We're gonna do everything we can okay? You need to give us some room." Rick stood completely still while I was already heading out the door. "Now." He finished. Not knowing where to go, I walked to their stairs and took a seat. I rubbed my hands on my pants not wanting to smother it over my sweater. I rubbed my shoulder and that's when I felt my pack missing. Outside Shane was yelling at someone, probably Otis. I rested my head against the handrail because frankly, I felt…bad. Rick was walking by me with Shane by his side. He glanced at me and I just avoided his stare. I didn't want any arguments happening right now, Carl's injured and it just wouldn't seem right. A few minutes later, Rick and Shane came out of the room and sat down on the couches. They were whispering to each other so I couldn't' catch what they saying but I did notice a glance towards my direction.

"Rick, he needs blood." Maggie pulled them from their conversation. I so badly wanted to just bolt up off the steps and help but I doubt I would be able to. Like she had said, they needed space and I don't want to get in the way.

"DAD!" I hear Carl's screams for his father and as much as I want to comfort him right now, I keep myself firmly seated. His screams got louder all of a sudden.

"Stop you're killing him!" Rick yelled. I covered my ears in hope of muffling their yells. Glenn wasn't here to help. I was on my own and I, I had to deal with that. These people who I've come to befriend may one day die and I need to learn how to cope when that happens. One day, I might even die. I felt the step I was seated on move so I opened my eyes. I noticed it was Maggie so I removed my hands from my ears.

"Hey, doing well?" I looked at her and noticed her eyes held worry, something I was foreign to.

"Yeah." She looked away from me for a moment before handing me a slightly dirty rag.

"It ain't much but it'll help."

"Thanks." I held it in my hands and wiped my face of all the dirt that had littered my cheeks. I used it on my hands afterwards before handing it back to Maggie. There was an awkward silence between us. I didn't know her, She didn't know me, end of story.

"I'm sorry about your brother."

"We're not related." Her eyes widened as if she were surprised and I lightly chuckled at her reaction. "He's a," I fished around in my head for descriptive but meaningful words. "He's, well…" It was her turn to chuckle. I felt my cheeks heat up at her reaction. Oh by, was I feeling embarrassed again?

"Boyfriend?" She questioned.

"Yes, ah wait no, I mean he's a boy who's a friend. A very best friend!" I tried correcting her but the words were just entangling themselves with each other so I sounded like a complete moron.

"Maggie!" Hershel yelled. She got up and left with a small wave before heading towards another room. I smiled at her retreating back. She's a nice girl. I felt my legs begin to go numb so I stood up and stretched before walking out their front door. The sun was setting and no clouds were in the sky today. I sighed remembering that Lori still doesn't know about Carl. I walked down the front steps towards one of the nearby trees. Minutes later, Rick, Shane, Hershel, Otis and Patricia came out of the house. Shane looked ready to go but to where exactly? Patricia was hugging Otis so I assume he's going with Shane. I look at Rick as he hands Otis his Colt. I watch as the blue pick up truck that held both Shane and Otis drives off into the distance. That's when I felt it was my cue to stand back Rick's side this time. He glances at me as if forgetting I was there in the first place.

"Let's go check on your son." Hershel tells Rick. He put his arm around my shoulders and off we went to check up on Carl. I don't know how long we were there, minute's hours. I all felt so short. Rick and Hershel left to wait for Maggie, something about her bringing Lori. I nodded as they left Carl's side to await their return.

"Hey Carl, buddy? I know you don't hear me but I just wanted to say that you made me worry." His pale body was motionless, just the steady sound of his breathing was heard. "When you wake up, you'll be dealing with a loudmouth Rinella." I wanted to say hug but then that would've been kind weird. I stood up from my seat and went to stand by the window. My fingers lightly touching the glass. He better wake up or else I'll have to do it by force. It would be so boring without another kid to play with. Yeah that's it. _No it isn't. _Hmph, whatever. Sophia will be so happy to play with us again so I need Carl to wake up fully recovered. I noticed a small moving thing in the distance so I squinting my eyes, I focused harder. It was, Maggie on her horse with, Lori. I knew Lori was going to come into this same room and cry so I didn't want to be here when it happened. After all, we're not related in anyway and it would be awkward well, mostly for me.

"Bye Carl, I'll check on you everyday from now on." I whispered waving lightly. I went back to my place on the stairs. For some strange reason unbeknownst to me, I didn't feel like sleeping today. My thoughts began to drift elsewhere and that's when worry set in. What if Sophia's not fine, what if Shane dies or-or Otis! I know I don't know these two well but it would be very saddening. Not to me maybe, but to their friends and family.

"You're not going; you need to stay here by Carl!" I overheard Lori's conversation with Rick who I assume wants to help his best friend Shane. Hershel sides with Lori and they hopefully manage to get Rick to stay.

"This was going to be a long recovery."

**Author's Note**

**How's everyone doing? Sorry for my lack of updating and I really don't like this chapter all that much and it was rushed. I apologize. On an awesome note, I will be updating hopefully once every day or 2 days again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter because it's 11 pm over here and I really want to watch the sequel to this stupid awful gruesome movie. Goodnight! Oh yeah, sorry for any mistakes! OwO ) /**

**Inspirational Song - **Hot Cocoa (It's really my inspirational song because I told myself to stay up and work!)

**Sang by – **Kagamine Len


	12. Light From The Dark

**Sorry for taking so long but I have gotten so lazy now that break is here. I truly apologize but here's the next chapter. Oh wow, break finished a few weeks ago. I better make up for it then. Sorry if this chapter is a bit uneventful. Don't own anything, yep. Enjoy!**

**Rinella's POV**

"Maggie, right?"

"Yeah?"

"I enjoy your rocking chairs." I was not going to lie. This rocking chair actually managed to calm me down. Of course I was worried-anxious about Carl, Sophia, and I suppose Shane. Anyways, point is I need to calm down before I do something awfully stupid and reckless.

"Glad you do." I giggled softly at her response. We were currently outside sitting in some old chairs. Problem was that we were almost completely covered in darkness. I didn't mind, the cool night breeze was very relaxing in a way and small talk didn't hurt. I had my legs crossed and chin resting on my palm. Maggie, (To the right of me) had her chin resting atop her knees. I was about to comment on something else when the sound of an engine interrupted my thoughts. Out in the field were bright car lights. I looked at Maggie to see if I should be alarmed but she was completely still. I took that as an "it's alright" motion. I was about to close my eyes when I heard hushed whispers. I was already sleepy so I didn't recognize any of their voices.

"Close the gate up the rode when you drove in'?" Maggie's voice almost made me jump.

"Hi, uh yeah. We closed it, did the latch and everything." Hold up a second, I recognize that voice. Doesn't surprise me that they would send him. I smiled at the thought. Well, I'm glad they had.

"Come on." Maggie was already getting off her chair so I assume she wanted me to get off as well. Bye rocking chair, I'll see you tomorrow. I managed to hop off before hiding myself behind Maggie. I heard Glenn rambling about how he had met Maggie before. Wow, were the girls at camp really the only ones he ever talked too? Can't wait to poke fun at him later.

"We came to help." T-Dog was here as well I see.

"It's not a bite." T-Dog reassured Maggie when she turned her head to stare at his injured forearm. "I cut myself pretty bad though."

"We'll have it looked at, I'll tell him you're here." Maggie took her steps forward, I followed quickly behind her.

"We have um- some pain killers, antibiotics. I already gave him some." Glenn handed her some pill bottles.

"Come inside, I'll make you something to eat." As she's opening the door, I pop out from behind her back.

"She makes delicious food." I smiled because I successfully made them jump and even made Maggie hold in a giggle. My hands were intertwined behind my head as I followed Maggie back into the house. I noticed which way they were going (Towards Carl's room) so I made a left when we were close and sat on the stairs. I could hear Glenn apologizing and whatnot, even if it wasn't his or T-Dog's fault. I know this may sound mean to everyone but instead of worrying about Carl (Who WILL make it out okay) why don't they stitch up T-Dog's wound already? Otis and Shane will bring back the supplies and everything will be alright. I watch as they all exit the room with a new person-Patricia following after them. Glenn and Maggie go their own way while T-Dog and Patricia seat themselves in the living room.

"Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing that ever happened to you." I hear her say to T-Dog. All of this is just too much to bear. I have to believe though and I have to handle it when someone-anyone dies. Tonight could be the night, tomorrow, any time this week and I hope I'll be ready when that time comes. Sighing, I rested my chin upon my hand gazing lazily at everything in this farmhouse.

"This would be the time that I would see what's happening with everyone but I really don't want to." I whisper. My thoughts are interrupted when I hear the sound of an engine. I think they're back, now Carl will be all fine and healthy again. I was about to pick myself up when I hear footsteps and I really didn't want to be in the front and have people waiting for me. I sat back down on the steps for a few. When I actually do pick myself up and make it outside, all I see is Shane and Rick rejoicing and Hershel talking-whispering to everyone out there.

"We say nothing to Patricia," He begins. "Not till' after the surgery." Otis didn't make it. I wonder why. I stare lazily at Shane telling everyone about how Otis urged him to go on.

"He wanted to make it right." Rick assures him. I'm glad that he brought the supplies but why would he be getting all soft over some guy that he was mad at? It didn't make any sense to me but I'll figure this out, somehow. I walk back into the house and speed walk towards Carl's room. I stand at the side of the bed-closest to the door just in case I hear footsteps. I wouldn't want anyone to hear my talk with Carl.

"Looks like you're going to be alright. I already knew that though." I scratch my cheek bashfully. "Wow, even when I'm the only one talking…I get embarrassed." I giggled at my comment knowing it was true. I shake my head to get rid of those thoughts. "I came here to tell you that I really don't trust some of our friends in our group," I stare off towards the window. "I suppose you know that already though. I'll tell you everything when you wake up though. I think I need to go now." I hear the front door creak open. "Bye Carl…sleep well…its boring." I add the last part hastily. I walk out but as I'm looking to the left and the right, I bump into something. That something was someone though. I took a few steps back and look up at the person. It was my least favorite person, the one I was hinting at when I was talking to Carl. "Didn't see you there." I comment hopefully in a monotone voice.

"Usually people say sorry." He says.

"Yeah well it's not like I hurt you or anything," I say putting my hands in my sweater pockets. "Now if you'll excuse me." I only took a step forward before he sidestepped and stopped me in my tracks.

"I heard ya' you know? Now why is it you don't trust our group?" I gulped but managed to keep my cool.

"Reasons. You shouldn't be concerned it was just a comment is all. I thought I would be able to talk freely but I guess not." I say looking towards my left at the wall.

"That so? If anything we should be the ones not trusting you in our group." I swallow what seemed to be a lump in my throat.

"That's so. I don't believe I know what you're talking about. It doesn't concern me."

"Those small incidents? Concerning your mother, your father. Or how about that one-"

"I get it. You're a cop; you know what there is to know about everyone. Quit trying to rub it in. Whatever happened back then is in the past." I cut him off. Clenching my fist in my sweater pocket.

"You're right, I'm a cop. Since I'm a cop everyone will trust me more then they do you and if I had to, I could even convince them about you being untrustworthy. You'll be all alone in this hellish world."

"I-I don't think they'll believe you. I've done my part in the group and they are my friends. They would never, never ever abandon me." That was bad, I stuttered, he mustn't have caught it though.

"What makes you so sure? They're just random people we meet along the way, no emotional attachment whatsoever," How could he say that? "Now, if you keep running your mouth like that, people are going to know about your small incidents." Why are all cops…why are all cops the same?! The old world was just as bad as this one if not, worse. That's when we heard more footsteps and decided to hurry this up.

"Well, I think I'm going to have to keep quiet then." I tell him with clenched teeth. Where's my somehow good inside voice thing when I need it!

"That's right, respect your elders." His comment pushed me over the edge. _Otis. _There it was, that's the voice I wanted so desperately to hear.

"Same goes for you now doesn't it? Considering what happened to _Otis_." He became still so I took that opportunity to run past him into the living room. Thankfully, Lori was still talking to Rick and Hershel. I hid in the kitchen and rested my hand on my chest, feeling my erratic heartbeat. It's anyone's win now. I look up and see Glenn and Maggie talking but their tones seemed different. Maggie seemed relieved while Glenn had a soft voice thing going on. Maggie noticed me and walked passed Glenn to stand in front of me. I stand still and firm awaiting her action. She lifts her hand to rub my cheek and I begin to feel my face get hot.

_Do you feel it? It's like the first time I realized that_

"You've gotta make it out safe. Alright? If you don't listen to me, you'll regret it." She laughs heartily. I smiled cheekily at her request.

_All you need is love_

"I will, I will. As long as Glenn's by my side, it'll all work out. I promise."

_Yeah I feel it, never letting go_

"Wha-what? Oh yeah." I hear him sputter. What is he so surprised about?

"Good. Now how bout ya'll get some rest?" Her hand is off my cheek which just felt so soon. I sigh but smile nonetheless.

_Oh you take me somewhere off the globe_

"Yeah, I haven't slept this whole day and frankly, I hate it." I say with an exhausted voice.

"I guess I feel the same." Glenn tells her. They were both such wonderful people, I'm glad to have them by my side.

_You opened the skies to my heart_

"I'll show ya' where you'll be sleeping." She began walking out from the kitchen.

"Wonderful." I comment trailing behind her.

"Thanks." Glenn adds in after me, following behind us.

_Or maybe this new world isn't so bad after all_

_Maybe._

**Author's Note**

**Yeah I was lazy, I apologize but I recently got all these new games and I just wanted to play them. My Netflix decided to be mean to me as well so sorry but all I had was some of the dialogue and memory to help me for this chapter. Hopefully the next chapter shall be up by Friday. I hope you enjoyed! Sorry for any mistakes and yay a chapter that was finished by 9:20 PM. Sorry if it's short but next chapter I promise will be longer! Have a good night everyone!**

**Inspirational song ****– All You Need Is Love**

**Sang by**** – Ruth-Anne **


	13. More Than Just A Thought

**I hope you enjoy this next chapter and I do not own anything, except Rinella. Thank you reviewers. You all make me so happy.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Rinella's POV<strong>

Waking up with a jolt, my hands go up my arms and chest, feeling for marks, scratches, bruises, anything.

_No wounds but wasn't I? _

That's when I remember it was Carl who had gotten shot; it was him who was resting downstairs and it was me who had gotten into a small fight with Shane. I look towards my left and find pictures littering a brown desk. What's her name again? Mallie, Maddy, Maggie! I look down at myself and find that the blankets were on the floor. I hastily jump off and fold it before placing it back onto the bed.

"I sure hope no one gets mad." I find my shoes by the door and slide them on. If I remember correctly, wasn't Glenn supposed to be sleeping somewhere or did Maggie get him another room? I'll ask him where he woke up later. I check my chest to make sure no one had taken my sweater. Surprisingly, when I was covering Carl's wound with my hands, the blood had managed to miss my sweater and only stay on my hands. I was grateful for that. I look at my wrist since it had somehow caught my attention. I pull the hair tie that Amy had given me. Did I have my hair up or was it down this whole time? I shake my head before looking in a nearby mirror. My hair isn't as tangled as it was before. That didn't mean I wasn't going to comb it though. I run my hands through the small knots and was surprised that they didn't put up a fight. I smile at the mirror; satisfied that my hair was straight again. I walk off towards the door and slowly pull it open, giving it that creepy feel. The creaking that had once started stopped and I take a step outside, before closing the door…slowly. I walk down the steps and cringe at the loud noises they make. Hopefully no one was in here. I reach the end of the steps and walk towards Carl's room. I stop a few steps before I reach the door to listen in.

"Sophia, is she okay?" I hear Carl ask. I bite my bottom lip, awaiting their answer.

"Fine, she's fine." Rick told him.

"Rest, we'll be right here okay?" I smiled at their interaction before turning around and walking outside. I passed by T-Dog and gave a nod of my head as hey before reaching the door. I push it open and stand by the rails beside Maggie.

"How is he?" Dale asked, concern lacing his voice.

"He'll pull through," Lori started from beside Rick. "Thanks to Hershel-and his people." Lori nods towards him.

"And Shane. We'd all lost Carl if not for him." Rick cuts in. Even though he brought back the supplies and saved Carl's life, I still think there's something fishy going on. I fold my arms across my chest. A small silence ensues and everyone begins embracing each other. Aside from me, I stay by Maggie's side.

"How'd it happen?" Dale questioned.

"Just an accident, that's all. Just a stupid accident." Rick answered him. Dale nods at his response before we all walk towards the field. Today's his funeral. I would've walked to Glenn if Maggie hadn't known this person; Otis. I feel as if she needs some sort of support. Even if she has her family, I still feel that she needs a bit more.

* * *

><p>We reach the pile of rocks above his grave and some people take off their hats while I keep my hands interlaced. I listen to Hershel's words as he leads the funeral but I don't really know what to think.<p>

"Shane, will you speak for Otis?" I tear my eyes away from the rocks before directing them towards Shane.

"Not good at it," Shane begins. "I'm sorry." I put pressure on my interlacing fingers, beginning to feel myself lose my cool at his words.

"You were the last one with him, you shared his final moments." Patricia begins. "Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning." Shane takes a deep breath before beginning his eulogy. I listen to his words and start imagining it in my head. He was limping and Otis had edged him forward, telling him to go on. I felt bad but not because of their situation but because of the pauses between Shane's sentences. I was about to question his words some more but then shake my head. This is a funeral, I need to push away all bad thoughts and focus on why we're here. Shane picks up one of the rocks before placing it above all the other ones.

"Carl wouldn't have made it without Otis." I stare down at my hands, knowing he was right. Before I knew it, the funeral was done and everyone went their separate ways. Rick, Andrea, Maggie, Daryl, Hershel and Shane had gone towards the truck to talk about where Sophia may be.

* * *

><p>Settling myself down on a nearby rock, my eyes focus on them as they all converse. Looking to my left, Dale is setting up a tent while Glenn is setting up his.<p>

"Is it hard?" I ask him. He stares at me for a bit before turning his attention back to the mess.

"No, not if you're used to it." He answers.

I nod before deciding to rest my head on my hands. I shift my eyes once again to the truck and see Rick staring over here; along with everyone else. I blink as the girls smile while Rick nods at me. I turn my head not liking all the attention before staring "secretly". Rick begins his talking again and Hershel stares at me as Rick continues.

"Must be something about me," Seeing Glenn in my sights, I continued. "Or you."

"What?" He asks.

"Nothing." I say while trying not to laugh.

"Really, what happened?" He continues.

Springing up, I begin to stretch. "Don't worry about it. Look who's coming over." I motion past him.

He doesn't budge so I smile.

"M-A-G" Letters are the only things coming out of my mouth.

"G-I-E." Glenn jumps at the new voice which results in Maggie and me giggling.

I could see him giving me the "not cool" look beneath his hat.

"I hear you're fast on your feet and know how to get in or out." Maggie begins, surprising both Glenn and me. "Got a pharmacy run, you in?" Glenn stares at me, awaiting my reply. Or is he waiting for my permission? Maybe reaction? I rub my head and just nod at his gaze.

"Uh," His reply was cut short when Dale soon intervenes.

"Miss, what's the water situation here?"

Oh, I want to know to.

"Got five wells on our lands," Whoa, that's quite a few. "House draws directly from number 1." She points ahead of us. "Number two well's right over there." She brings her pointed finger back down. "We use it for the cattle but it's just as pure, take what you need." She points behind me. "There's a cart, containers, and generators straight behind the house."

"Thanks." Dale finishes with T-Dog beside him.

"I'll go saddle your horse then." Maggie tells Glenn before walking off.

"Ohhhhh." I drawl which makes everyone stare at me.

"Horse?" Glenn questions our small group. I lift up my sweater sleeves to my elbows and pat his shoulder.

"Careful, they're fun to ride but if you fall off, it'll hurt." He nods with a shaky smile at my words.

He must remember when he, Rick, and I rode that elegant horse into town. I'll avenge you somehow, I promise.

Dale and T-Dog walked off, to the well I assume. Taking seat down atop the grass, I watched as Glenn pulled out a pair of binoculars. Following his line of vision, there was Maggie on a horse. Just as I was going to tease him about it, Lori had suddenly appeared. We both jumped at her appearance.

"Hey." She muttered. I stared up at her and she only smiled before leading Glenn towards the RV. Growing bored with the two of them, my eyes drift elsewhere.

**Glenn's POV**

I gulped as Lori pulled me away from Rinella and hoped that she didn't catch me staring. Instead she pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"Here's your list." She handed it to me and I began to unfold it.

"And there's one other item, I wrote it down separately. Its personnel, if we could be real discreet about that, okay?" She handed me another folded piece of paper and when I finally got it open, I was at a loss for words.

"Good, she didn't see." I heard her whisper. I look up surprised at her comment.

"Wh-what?" She turned her head back to me.

"Rinella she's a, a very curious girl. If she had seen that well, you would've missed the point of the whole discreet thing." She smiled.

She's right about that but why-how did this happen?

"Right u-um," I stuttered following her. "I just need to know where to find it." I asked embarrassed.

"Try the feminine hygiene section."

"Oh, enough said. Consider it done." I watched as she walked off back into the RV before I left to stand by Rinella again.

"So what happened?" Oh boy.

**Rinella's POV**

"Aren't you going to answer?" I looked up at him questioningly.

"Yeah, she just gave me the list for the pharmacy trip."

"Ah I see, well better get everything so people don't get mad." Our talk was cut short when another person had suddenly appeared in front of us. This time, it was Dale.

"We've got a situation," He begins breathlessly. "And we need some help."

* * *

><p>I stare into the well and nearly stick my tongue out at the surprise at the bottom. Not wanting to stare at the nasty thing, I go back to stand beside Glenn.<p>

"How long you think it's been down there?"

"Its fat and it has gills." I comment from beside him.

Andrea stares at us before answering.

"Long enough to grow gills. We can't leave it in there; god knows what it's doing in the water."

That is disgusting. Why can't we ever find anything good?

"We'll we gotta get it out." Shane adds.

Well of course we need to get it out, some people need a drink of water.

"Easy, put a bullet through its head." T-Dog suggested.

"Woh,woh, guys. No." Maggie disagrees with him and practically everyone else.

"Why not? Good plan." Glenn asks, agreeing with T-Dog's earlier suggestion.

"Because then the water will get polluted by whatever that…Thing has in it." I say while running my hand through my hair. Everyone stares at me again so I take a step back and try to stay behind Glenn.

"Yeah. If that thing hasn't contaminated the water yet, then blowing its brains out will finish the job." Andrea agrees with me at least. Seems like the only people who are thinking are the girls, wonder why?

"She's right, better not risk it." Shane says while biting his lip.

"We gotta get it out alive." T-Dog agrees as well.

"How do we do that?" Lori asks the question that is on everyone's mind.

"Normally when you want something, you're supposed to coax it." I mutter.

Shane and Dale share a glance before asking Maggie about something. She nods before running off.

"I wonder what they said."

"Don't know but maybe it'll help." Glenn answers me.

Stepping out from behind Glenn, I walk closer towards the well. Next thing I know, Shane and Dale are going Walker fishing with ham. Looking to my right, I see Maggie and Lori staring into the well.

"He isn't going for it." Dale informs everyone else.

"That's because ham don't kick and scream as you're trying to eat it." T-Dog comments.

"He's right. There's a reason the dead didn't come back and start raiding our cupboards."

Lori muses.

I try my best to hold in a laugh because if a Walker had ended up in my house and went straight for the canned corn in the cabinets well, I don't think I would be able to not laugh. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I continue to stare.

"We need live bait." Andrea comments.

Oh no I'm pretty sure I know what they're suggesting-rather who they're sending. I watch as everyone shifts their eyes from the Walker and that's when I realize it. Glenn begins to look around at everyone and eventually, his eyes land on me.

I shrug my shoulders and give him an apologetic smile before turning away from his gaze.

They're sending him.

Sorry pal, I can't help you now.

Standing up to walk off towards the small brown fences surrounding the well, I stare off into the distance while they're getting Glenn ready to risk his life. Again.

"Oh, you people are crazy." Maggie comments, clearly displeased at what they're having Glenn do.

Seeing Maggie's worried face, I walk over to her.

"Yeah, I hope he doesn't become dinner for swimm_er~_" I drawl out the last bit in a monotone voice.

He sends us a worried look to which Maggie shakes her head while I give a small wave with a straight face.

"You mean, you're used to this?" Maggie asks me.

"This isn't the 1st time he's been chosen to do something reckless."

She clicks her tongue at my response.

"Though," Motioning for her to come closer, she does so. "I tend to worry." I whisper, a small frown on my face.

"That so?" She asks, smiling.

Nodding, I walk over to the well and watch as Glenn is lowered deeper and deeper into it.

"Doin' okay?!" Maggie yells down to him.

He looks up at us and manages a strained smile.

"Yup doing great!"

I give him a thumbs up before he turns his attention back to swimmer.

"Little lower." Maggie instructs the people holding the rope.

They better be holding that rope tight or else swimmer's going to get the feast he's been aching for.

"Little more."

That's when I felt myself stand up and walk somewhere else. No one was paying attention to what I was doing since Glenn needed all the eyes he could get. There was a loud ringing in my ears which caused me to sit down beside the water pipe. I knocked on my head to force the ringing out but suddenly my hands went to grasp the water pipe.

"What are you doin'?" I heard Dale question me, gaining everyone's attention.

"Get away from there!" I heard Shane yell.

It seemed to gain that guy's attention as well.

"I don't know and I can't!" I shake my head at their words.

_It's not safe_

_You'll get hurt_

_Get away from there!_

I kept shaking my head at their demands and comments. I didn't know what was going on, I don't know what's going to happen, but I DO know that Glenn is involved.

_Hold on. _

Wait, hold onto what exactly? That's when the ringing halted and all that went through my ears was a creaking noise. Instead of holding it in my hands, I threw my arms around the pipe and kept my feet planted on the ground.

Everyone began screaming behind me and everything went out of control. I was trying my best to force all my weight onto the darn thing but it just popped off its hinges. It managed to lift me up into the air so I let go. All I knew was that I was falling forward; arms outstretched.

**Glenn's POV**

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap oh crap! This was not the way I had wanted to go down. "Oh god, oh god, get me out of here!" I hollered to the others. Staring down at the bloated Walker, I watched terrified as his bloody hands were reaching for me.

"!" I heard T-Dog and everyone else as they were trying their best to pull me out.

"No, no, no! Get off!" I kicked down at the Walker and thankfully it didn't latch onto my foot. "Get off me! Oh my god!" The flashlight slipped out my hands and landed beside it. "Get me out of here!" I yelled once more to them.

"Hang on!" Holding onto the rope tight until my knuckles were right, I waited for someone-anyone to pull me out. There was no way I was going to die today. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever! I felt myself being lifted out of the well and instantly tore my hands off the rope to clench the bar. Lifting myself up, I stare at the ground below me. My form didn't even shift as Shane threw me across and away from the well.

"Are you okay?" Lori asker, worry laced inside her voice.

My heavy breathing was all that could be heard.

"Back to the drawing board."

Hearing Dale's words, I shakily stand up. That was a horrible experience; one I never wanted to go through again.

"Says you." I hand him the piece of rope before pulling off the remaining tied part around me. I look around and noticed that everyone is around the well, except for one person. Scanning the brown plain once more, her form was just a few meters ahead. She was seated on the ground, with her back facing me.

"Hey, what are you doing all the way over here?" I notice her jump before she hastily replies.

"Nothing, nothing. Would you mind letting me sit here to um, enjoy the scenery for a while longer?" It looked like she was trying to become smaller, with her knees covering her face and her arms hidden inside her sweater. As I was reaching for her shoulder, T-Dog's voice made me jump.

"We need some help over here!" I retract my hand from her before dashing back towards the well; where everyone is pulling the rope that I wrapped around the Walker. Runningt o the end of the line, my fingers tightens around the rope and begin pulling.

"Come on ya'll! Pull almost there!" Shane leads us. "Come on ya'll, all together. Careful T-Dog."

"It's stuck!" T-Dog informs everyone. Seconds later, we hear a loud splashing sound. The Walker's body was split in half, most of its innards landing in the water. Me and most people look away from the disgusting sight.

"Seal off this well?" Shane suggests.

"That may be a good idea." Dale agrees, for once.

"So what do we do about-" Andrea's question is cut short when T-Dog picks up a pickaxe and lets his frustration out on the Walker. We all watch as its brains splatter, already used to the gory scene.

Unsurprisingly, Maggie walks off. She wasn't used to anything like this, probably not ever. I stare at her retreating figure before turning back to the mashed up Walker.

"Glenn!" I turn my head towards the direction of my name being called. Maggie's kneeling down beside Rinella. Jogging up to them, I stop and notice her holding something. It's a…It's her arm?

**Rinella's POV**

"Its not that bad, I've…Had worse." I mutter at Maggie's reaction towards my, what people would call an elbow.

"We'll see about that, Glenn!"

She's holding up my arm in a delicate way which I'm thankful for. I hear a pair of footsteps stop beside me and turn my head away from them.

"What happened?" He asks us.

"I fell." Answering stubbornly, I try to pull my arm away from her but only wince as she pulls it back.

"Must've been when she was holding onto the pipe." Maggie provides him with a better explanation.

"You think your father can fix that?"

"Oh, no. No,no,no,no. You're not telling anyone." I shake my head at Glenn's question and try to pull my arm back which results in me biting my cheek; trying to suppress a yell.

"With this L like thing you can't even get past the well without being noticed." I let out a huff because I know she's right. "But my father isn't the only one who knows how to patch people up."

"Wait, what?" I stare at her quizzically.

She holds my elbow in one hand before motioning to Glenn about something. She puts a finger to her mouth in a shushing motion and covers her mouth before placing her other hand on my shoulder. I feel a hand on my mouth and I instantly froze.

"You wanted this to be a secret?" Maggie asks with a small smile on her face. "Well, a secret it is then." That's when I felt like screaming my head off. My feet were pounding the ground as I watched Maggie turn my arm. Good thing Glenn had a good hold on my mouth or else I would've attracted even the Walker's attention. She kept on turning until that one "pop" noise.

That life saving _"pop"_ was heard.

"Is-is that it?" Glenn asks unsurely, waiting for her go ahead of removing his hand from my mouth.

Her fingers drift across my elbow once more before giving it a small rub.

"That's it." She smiled gleefully at me.

Furrowing my brows at her, I only lick the hand that's on my mouth.

"Ugh!"

I snicker at Glenn's reaction and begin to see black spots.

"Well, maybe next time you'd think twice before trying something like that." I say before promptly knocking out on the spot.

"Should I take her to my ten-"

"Nope. You're taking her to my room." Maggie finishes. "Her arm needs to heal on a soft bed, not the rock hard ground." She adjusts her hat atop her head as she picks herself up.

"Hey." Glenn picks up the sleeping girl in his arms before standing alongside Maggie. "It's not that bad."

She gives him a look.

"Maybe a little." He adds quietly, strolling behind her.

Once they reach the house, she nods at her father before walking up the steps and waiting at the door.

"Something happen?" Rick stood up from his seat beside Hershel.

"Uh, no. No she just fell asleep is all."

Rick only raises a brow at his answer.

"Tell you later." Glenn hastily adds before hurrying up the steps to the awaiting Maggie. Opening the door, she waits for him to enter before promptly shutting it.

"2 doors to your left, past the pictures." She leads the way and they're soon in her room.

He lays Rinella down on the awaiting bed and unties her shoes.

"Not very good at hiding things are ya'?" She questions, sliding a blanket atop the teen.

'It's…It's not that." Glenn disagrees.

"Right, well right now we got a pharmacy run to do, I suggest we get a move on."

"Ri-right. Right."

She smiles before walking downstairs.

When he reaches the door and grabs hold of the knob, he turns his head. "Night Rinella, get some sleep. I'll be sure to get you some bandages." The sound of her breathing is the only response before he closes the door and prepares for his trip into town.

The farmer's daughter in toll.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Done and seriously, my story has loads of mistakes but I am secretly fixing them and then uploading them again. So once again, I apologize for the mistakes which I hope are a little and I bid you all good night!

So goodnight all and I apologize, really!


	14. Ah, Again?

**How's everyone doing, please tell me you're all doing fine \(OAO)/ Anyways, I hope you all like or love this chapter. Whatever floats your boat (~ ' o ' )~ I don't own The Walking Dead and anything else that you know isn't mine. I only own Rinella and that's it. Chapter Start!**

**Rinella's POV**

"Am I supposed to wear this?" I held up a pair of denim cropped jeans and had an eyebrow risen. I was never really one to care about clothes but all the books that I've read always said that girls were crazy about what they wear. I place that down beside my thigh and I go through the small amount of clothing. A lilac ribbed tank, underwear, and some new socks were laid out. I don't like showing off my skin at all because for some reason, I don't want a tan. I look at my arms; realizing how white they are. Sighing, I dried myself off with the gray towel before slipping on the clothes that were provided for me. I just came out of the shower because Maggie had noticed that I was the only one who skipped getting clean. After I looked at myself in the mirror, combed my hair, I finally look to where I left my clothes and realized that someone had taken them. Again. Do people just love taking clothes from me? They better give me my sweater back and wait a second. I haven't even got my last sweater back! I bonk myself on the head and soon realize why they had taken my sweaters and long pants. "Because it's over 100 degrees outside." I mutter annoyed. This is exactly why I'd pick winter over summer any day. Well at least the jeans went down to my calf, that's a relief.

**Time skip**

As I made my way towards the door I notice that Maggie had made her way to the outside.

"Nice guitar." I hear her say to someone. I'm usually not a nosy person but what the heck?

"Dale found it on the highway," Oh so she's talking to Glenn? I inch closer to the door but make sure to stand in the shadows. "You know, we still have 11 condoms." Now this, this little conversation right here just got a tad bit interesting.

"Ya, you see 11 condoms? I see 11 minutes of my life I'm never getting back." I cover my mouth with my hand to stifle my laugh.

"It wasn't that bad was it?" So boys really are concerned about things like that. The books aren't lies…for now.

"Look, I don't even know if I like you." My hand came down from my mouth to rest across my stomach. Now that's cold.

"But you're thinking about it? You should." I hear footsteps getting softer and softer and realize that one of them walked off. I slip away from my hiding spot and rest my hands against the screen door.

"The butterfly's caught in the web and the spider can't even control it?" Seriously, usually it's the butterfly easily controlled, not the other way around. The loud sound of a fallen object echoes in the air. I cringe at the noise.

"Woah! How long, how long have you been there?" He asks me shakily. I sigh before opening the screen door.

"Since the compliment, nice guitar." I say with a smile. He picks up the fallen guitar before sitting back down on the rocking chair. Noticing his sad state, I scratch my cheek before inhaling and exhaling. "Relax I won't tell anyone." He looks up at me with a surprised expression. "I know it could get lonely and to be completely honest. You could use a girl your life." He seemed to smile at my comment but soon frowns when I wave my hands from left to right. "I won't tell anyone, if you promise not to keep secrets from me. Alright?" I ask.

"Yeah uh, sure." I take a seat on the blue rocking chair beside his. "Oh I needed to tie this around your elbow." He pulls out some bandage cloths from his pocket.

"Fine but could you at least make it so that I'll be able to move it. Not to tight either?" I turn my left arm over for him but wince at the sting. Must be because he reminded me about my injury. I watch as he begins to wrap from the middle of my forearm up to my bicep. Once he's finished wrapping it over a 2nd time, he clips on 2 pins to hold the bandages in place.

"Alright, all done." I pull my hand away and try moving it up and down, left then right, and surprisingly, it doesn't sting as much anymore.

"You did an exceptional job, I'll give you that." I ignore the drop of his smile. "So for how long do I need to keep this on?"

"For about 3 weeks." Did I just hear him right? Three weeks?! I think I've dealt with worst before…but that's an awful long time. I stand up and slap my forehead with my hand. He looked as if he wanted to say something but I interrupted him.

"It's fine, fine, fine, fine. Does anyone else know?" I ask him with my hand covering my eyes.

"Rick and Hershel." I hope I don't have a long talk with him again; it would be embarrassing since I did promise I would be more careful.

"He was bound to find out sooner or later. Now with this bandage on," I wave my arm up and down. "I'm pretty sure everyone is going to find out." He only nods at my reply before opening his mouth again.

"I've been meaning to ask you this but what's with the sudden change of clothes?" I blink before resting my head in my palm. "No more sweaters?"

"It's not that, I think Maggie left me some of her old clothes to wear since it's hot. I would really enjoy being in my sweater though." I smile and begin dreaming about all the

sweaters I would love to own.

"Wow, are you just naturally pale or did you always just wear sweaters?" I shake myself of my dream and raise an eyebrow at his question.

"I suppose I got it from my...mother but I think it's because I spent most of my time in rooms and whatnot. I really like my skin color and that's why I'm trying to stay in the shadows for the time being, so I don't get a tan." He nods at my response. "How bout we go and sit near our camp? That'll give me a reason to walk in the sun," I hopped off the chair hearing its soft creaking noises. "For once." I finish, before heading on ahead of him.

**Time Skip**

I sat down on a nearby lawn chair while Glenn made himself comfy on a log. The book he had in his hands had me curious but I knew I shouldn't pry. For some reason he suddenly picked himself up when Lori walked passed us. He began a small conversation with her. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I did catch their glances which means, they were most likely talking about me. Their conversation didn't last that long but I soon found out why. Rick and Shane were walking back to camp and sadly, with no Sophia by their side. I really hope they find her; it's been awfully boring with no other kids to play with. I close my eyes and lean my head back. A hand on my shoulder makes me open one eye.

"You staying or?" I look at Glenn before turning over.

"Well, would you like to explain to Rick how this happened?" I ask him with a tired voice and wave my arm in a rigid motion.

"Actually I already did."

"So you mean, you covered for me?" I question with slight hope in my voice. His quiet response makes a frown appear on my face. "Not exactly. He doesn't know how you got it but he knows that it's not that big of an injury." I let out a breath before running a hand through my hair.

"That's good I guess. I'm still going to sit here for a while and-"

"Enjoy the scenery?" I fake a laugh at his comment.

"You're not going to let that go are you?"

"Not a chance." I lift his hand away from my shoulder.

"Great. Well go do what you were going to do." I wave him off before leaning my head back once more. Surprisingly, when Rick and Shane had finally reached camp, they steered clear from my area and continued on their way. Yes! Now I don't have to explain to them about me hearing voices in my head! I should really keep that to myself because it made me sound like a loon. Now, what was I thinking-

"WALKER!" Andrea's voice made me jump. I sadly lift myself up from my comfy chair and sigh. My fingers instinctively went down to my hip and that's when I remembered, I was unarmed of anything and one thought ran through my head.

_Again?_

**Author's Note**

Sorry everyone for this very VERY short chapter but I'm on some vacation right now and I seriously don't have time this weekend to even type. I was thinking of leaving an author's note but I thought you all would enjoy a short half chapter instead. Don't worry because Monday, I'll begin typing the rest and hopefully have it up the same day. I hope you all don't mind the mistakes and as you can see, I'm not really fond of styles so sweaters and pants are really the only things I could describe. Ahaha, sorry again for anything that bothers you and I hope you all have a great President's Day weekend! It's 12:09 AM and I need to get to sleep since I have a long day tomorrow. Night!

**Inspirational Song** - She's a Lady

**Sang by** – FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS (I do not know why I picked this but it's probably b/c of the way I view Maggie in Glenn's POV)


	15. Sundial

**I was very, very, very awful busy this whole month so I apologize ( / o \ ) Here is the next chapter and once again I do not own The Walking Dead. Yes I do realize its well over a month late. Sorry! So…chapter start? **

**Rinella's POV**

"I shot Daryl." That's when I open the door.

"You thought he was a Walker, it's not your fault." It was about 20 minutes ago that Andrea shot Daryl and now she's beating herself up for it. I was so ready to just run alongside Glenn to help but he made me stay back. Of course I was annoyed but I couldn't blame him, I was defenseless after all. So once everyone came out screaming their heads off after realizing it was Daryl, I made my way to the farm house before the crowding began. I was just coming out of Daryl's room before hearing Andrea.

"Believe me; we've all wanted to shoot Daryl at one point." I rub my neck at Dale's comment. I guess it was true. Even though I haven't actually introduced myself to him yet, I admit he could be a bit loud. That doesn't mean I don't like him though because he's done lots of things for the group. Such as bringing those squirrels for us to eat so I suppose he isn't half bad. Sitting down beside the both of them, I begin to think about everyone else in our group while their conversation continues. I'll start off from the people I met first and how I like them.

Rick is a good man to me. He isn't like my father who was just a useless man. I have to admit, Carl's pretty lucky to have a father like that.

Carl is special...very special to me. He's nice, funny, calm, oh and-never mind. Taking a deep breath, I begin to think about how he changed when this whole mess began. He became a much quieter one, that's for sure. He smiles less often but I wouldn't blame him.

Lori is what a mother should be. Protective, concerned, and a hawk, keeping an eye on everyone. I can tell she loves Carl very much. My own mother cared for me deeply but it was hard to tell at times. After all, she could've taken me and we both wouldn't need to go back to that awful house. I suppose her situation was much like Carol's; she was terrified of him. I wasn't terrified of him but of the dark. He really didn't do anything that hurt-most of the time. That doesn't mean I don't hate him. He did make me develop achluophobia which I will eternally hate him for. I let out a soft sigh before remembering about that time with the Walker. Of course I didn't forget what I did but I just didn't want to explain to anyone yet. At random times, when I feel that I did something wrong, I just let out 'I'm sorry' multiple times. I'm trying to stop that habit but it doesn't seem to want to end. I'll tell Glenn when I want to and maybe Carl.

Morales and his family were nice and they were a happy family. That's all I really got from them. Same with Jaqui.

Andrea and Amy are two sweet sisters. They're both the kind of sisters that I would wish for at night. Caring and not spineless. I pull at the scrunchie on my wrist. This is the only thing I have that was once a part of Amy, I'll treasure it for as long as I can. I feel a lump in my throat so I swallow and hold my tears in. This new world really is horrible.

**Time Skip**

I look around the dining room and see who's seated around me. Maggie and Glenn are both seated beside each other, with Maggie next to me. Well, at least I know she likes me. Beth is seated across from me, with Jimmy on her left. I poke at the food that was given to me with a fork. Green peas, some beef, and mashed potatoes are on the plate. I try my best to gather all the peas onto the fork and swallow them. A biscuit is what ends up on my plate soon after. I make sure to eat the rest of the food before deciding to nibble on the buttery flaky biscuit.

"Who plays guitar?" I hear Glenn's question actually echo around the room. No one answers for a while and then Patricia speaks up.

"Otis did." I sink into my chair and let the silence continue. I hear scribbling off to my right and see Maggie pass a piece of paper to Glenn. I raise myself up from my chair and stare at him as he reads whatever is on the paper. I smile with wide eyes as he looks at Maggie with a huge grin. His eyes soon land on me and down that grin goes. I shove the last piece of bread into my mouth and swallow before blinking. I give him a quick thumbs up before returning to my clean plate. Wow he must be getting some to-wait…what's that sound. I shift my eyes back to his seat and watch him scribble something onto the paper. The only problem is that I'm not the only one who hears it. I stare at the other table and notice both Dale and Hershel shake their heads disapprovingly. When will you learn how to be sneaky. Avoiding Walkers and getting supplies doesn't count. I rest a hand on my forehead and smile.

**Another Time Skip…**

"You go up to the room, I got it from here." Maggie tells me as she's washing the dishes. I only nod at her answer and mutter a thanks. Why is it that I get special treatment? I miss sleeping in the tent. As I'm reaching the stairs, I falter for a second before deciding to visit Carl. I "skillfully" walk around the bed and reach a chair. I nestle myself into it before speaking.

"Feeling better? I hope so. It really is boring without another kid around so you do owe me. I don't have much time since your mom will arrive soon so I'll just say it now. I…I miss chatting with you and that's it. Please feel better soon so we could explore the farm together and find Sophia. It would be the best." I wave at him before walking slowly up the creaking stairs. I reach Maggie's room and run inside before quietly shutting the door.

"That was such a awkward dinner." I notice clothes place on the bed and since they're too small for Maggie, I assume they're for me. I make my way towards the window and pull the curtains away. As I'm scanning the dark green grass, I notice a moving figure. I squint before placing my forehead on the glass.

"Maggie?" I question with confusion. I stare up ahead of her and notice the barn. That must be where Glenn is waiting for her but she looks frantic for some reason. I feel my eye lids closing so I close the curtains before yawning. Whatever it is, I'll ask one of them tomorrow.

"It's probably nothing." I smile with my eyes closed.

_**Probably**_

**Author's Note**

Yes I've been gone and I apologize but there are so many projects I had to finish. A few for Robotics, Chinese, and Bio. English is just way too much by itself. I apologize for any mistakes since I wanted to finish this today. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one will probably be up by Monday. Short Author's Note yeah but I still need to finish a project. Ahaha, sleep well and/or have a great day! Thank you for reading!

**Inspirational Song** – Sundial Hill

**From **– Misao


	16. Update October 2014

_**I am still cleaning up these chapters and my love for TWD has increased. To make things easier for me and you, mostly for me because I am lazy, I will explain everything that has happened to Rinella so far.**_

* * *

><p>First, her father loved her but then something changed within him and he became a drunk. He bought her things sure, but he would have random mood swings. No, she was never raped, I would never do that to any of my characters, I just don't feel comfortable.<p>

He only shoved her in one of the many vacant rooms with the lights off whenever he became annoyed. It happened so randomly ,like days would pass by and nothing, a few hours later it would happen again. That's where her fear of darkness came from. Yes, her father taught her how to shoot since, I don't know, some parents do that.

Her mother loved her dearly but the fear of her father overwhelmed her. He did not beat her mother but he did yell at her and verbally abused her. I will try not to address this as much as possible.

* * *

><p>Siblings? Hmm.<p>

Friends? Just stayed in the library and really has no social life. Carl was the one friend.

Pets are a no in her house.

She does have low blood pressure, hypotension. Not everyone is as hot headed as Daryl. No hate, I like Daryl ahaha.

The fruits within her bag became inedible since no coolness. Battery of DS died. Ha, now there is nothing.

Current attire consists of Maggie's old teen clothes which are really just capris and jeans. Shirts are also hers.

Sweater is what Sophia wore in the comics, the panda one, it's really cute.

**As for what's to come, you get a general idea.**

Reunion concerning Rinella.

Hair.

Crushes. Um, not sure how many of you actually ship Rinella and Carl but this may irritate a few.

Andrea and Rinella moment(s).

Meeting you know who from seasons 3-4.

An actual wardrobe change, though not very…Much to choose from.

* * *

><p><em><strong>That's about it. I hope you enjoyed the new episode of TWD with Terminus. I hope to continue writing this fanfic for the fans and others who begin to watch the show. I will try my best to clean up these chapters as much as I can but until then, please bear with me. Any questions you might have, feel free to message me or review, I'll edit this note to add it.<strong>_

_**Have a nice day and/or night!**_


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